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(Adds background, analysts' comments)
By Juliette Portala
Feb 10 (Reuters) - Informa agreed to sell its pharma
intelligence business to New York-based investment fund Warburg
Pincus for 1.9 billion pounds ($2.58 billion), the British
events organiser announced on Thursday, sending shares rising by
7%.
The world's largest exhibition group had made plans in
December to divest the entire intelligence unit, which houses
brands such as maritime data provider Lloyd's List and clinical
trial data provider Citeline, while it focuses on its larger
events and academic businesses.
Informa flagged that Pharma Intelligence, which provides
data on clinical trials, drug treatments and medical devices and
accounted for about 40% of its Intelligence unit in 2020, had
drawn "significant" interest over the past two months.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said the sale was at "great price", as
the remaining businesses could approximately yield a further 700
million pounds, well ahead of the brokerage's 2 billion estimate
for the whole division.
Private equity firms have been circling UK-listed companies
since last year, a buyout spree that amounted to $45 billion in
the first half of 2021, Refinitiv data showed.
Informa said it would retain about 15% of Pharma
Intelligence after the deal completion, which is expected by
early June.
After that, it will start divesting the financial
intelligence division, excluding the retail banking joint
venture, Curinos.
Shares rose as much as 7% to their highest level since Nov.
2020 as the group said it planned to return a portion of the
divestment proceeds to shareholders through a share buyback.
The initial tranche of the buyback programme, which starts
immediately and will run through to next June, will be 100
million pounds.
The group also confirmed it expected 2021 earnings in line
with forecasts, set at over 1.8 billion pounds for revenues and
more than 375 million pounds for adjusted operating profit.
Informa predicted that free cash flow would exceed its
previous guidance of above 325 million pounds.
($1 = 0.7378 pounds)
(Reporting by Juliette Portala and Yadarisa Shabong; editing by
Subhranshu Sahu, Shailesh Kuber, Alexandra Hudson)
