LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Business information and events company Informa announced its acquisition of Winsight for $380m on Thursday.
The FTSE 100 firm said the strategic move aimed to strengthen its presence in the business-to-business foodservice category, creating a "category leader" in the industry.

It said the combination of Winsight with Informa's existing foodservice portfolio would bring together renowned specialist brands in live and on demand events, including the National Restaurant Association Show, FSTEC, Catersource, and CREATE.

Additionally, the merger would include specialist data and research capabilities through Technomic and Nation's Restaurant News Intelligence, as well as specialist media outlets such as Restaurant Business, CSP, Nation's Restaurant News, and Supermarket News.

The board said the initial enterprise value of $380m implied a post-synergy multiple of about 9x enterprise value-to-EBITDA.

It said that financial advantage would deliver earnings accretion from the outset, and a post-tax return ahead of Informa's long-term weighted average cost of capital in the first full year of ownership.

Additionally, the combination of Informa and Winsight was expected to generate annual revenues of more than $115m in the United States alone.

Informa said the acquisition maintained its ongoing balance sheet strength.

The pro-forma leverage was anticipated to be around 1.25x net debt-to-EBITDA by the end of the year, providing it with flexibility for organic investment, shareholder returns, and further targeted expansion.

"Following on from the acquisition of Tarsus, we are delighted to further expand our B2B portfolio through the addition of Winsight," said group chief executive officer Stephen Carter.

"Alongside technology, life sciences and aviation, this now adds foodservice to our roster of category-leading B2B businesses with scale, international reach and an increasingly diversified service offering spanning live and on-demand events, specialist data and research, specialist media and related B2B digital services.

"This acquisition is fully-funded by in-year cash flow growth and our balance sheet, and will further enhance revenues, margins, earnings and cash flow."

At 1012 BST, shares in Informa were up 2.09% at 721.6p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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