Informa’s treasury secure acquisition funding in record time
Published: Sep 2025
Best Funding Solution
Highly Commended Winner
Informa plc
Photo of Ivan Todorov, BNP Paribas collected the award on behalf of Informa.
Richard Garry
Director of Group Treasury, Insurance & Pensions
UK Informa plc is a leading international events, digital services and academic research group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has offices in 30 countries and approximately 14,000 employees.
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The challenge
When Informa announced its £1.2bn acquisition of Ascential in 2024, behind the scenes the group’s treasury had to ready a funding package at pace. The Informa treasury team has a good line of sight to most mergers and acquisitions (M&As) through its collaborative working relationship with the group’s Corporate Development team but, in this instance, the transaction had arisen quickly transforming from a potential target to live target in short order.
The solution
The funding project involved structuring an initial £1.25bn Acquisition Bridge Financing facility in a ten-day time frame. This was followed by a successful syndication of that Bridge combined with the decision to pull forward the re‑documentation and syndication of the group’s core revolving credit facility (RCF). The new RCF was particularly notable as it was restructured for the new shape of the group that, in addition to the Ascential acquisition, would soon contain a 57% shareholding in a NASDAQ listed entity (TechTarget Inc.) that was due to complete in December of 2024. Finally, the Bridge facility was refinanced with a €1.75bn triple tranche ETMN bond issuance, (re) stablishing a full euro curve for the company (three-year, six-year and ten-year tenors) at zero new issue premium and marked Informa’s first benchmark bond issuance since September 2020.
This was further supported by a sophisticated risk management solution; the team executed significant deal-contingent FX trades at the time of the acquisition announcement which were subsequently rolled into long‑term derivative trades, comprising two separate cross‑currency swaps and an additional floating leg, taking the opportunity to reset the group’s interest rate profile into line with the risk appetite of the group in that economic environment. These swaps were executed at critical points through the day to access the markets at the optimal time. The team had run an extensive process to appoint an execution bank and identify credit hold banks to syndicate the executed swaps to.
Banks involved are BNP Paribas, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Santander as Active Bookrunners and Rothschild as Advisor to Informa plc.
“We are thrilled to receive this Highly Commended recognition at the prestigious Adam Smith Awards. The team worked so hard pulling together a complex transaction with an amazing outcome and this award is testament to their talents, commitment and professionalism.”
Richard Garry, Director of Group Treasury, Insurance & Pensions
Best practice and innovation
The company accelerated the timing of the RCF refinancing, achieving efficiency gains by negotiating the two facilities simultaneously and mirroring common terms across both. The company also leveraged its updated EMTN programme; an exercise undertaken annually in each Q2 – to seize upon a short market window in between the closing of the Ascential acquisition in mid-October and the US election in early November, to conduct marketing and execute the issuance of the €1.75bn triple tranche transaction. This was the company’s first trip back to the euro bond market since its €700m issuance in September 2020; a transaction that came during challenging times as the company managed its way through the Covid crisis.
Since then, the company has significantly grown its business, leveraging its market leading position combined with margin-accretive M&A/portfolio management, which has strengthened its credit profile and has subsequently secured upgrades from all three credit rating agencies. When marketing its bond, the company were able to efficiently leverage a comprehensive virtual marketing exercise to update investors on its story and ultimately generated a €7.6bn peak orderbook on the transaction. Given the improvement in the company’s credit profile, it was able to remove the Sub IG coupon step ups from its bond documentation, re-setting a more advantageous precedent for future issuance.
Key benefits
Cost savings.
Process efficiencies.
Return on investment.
Risk mitigated.
Improved visibility.
Future-proof solution.
Exceptional implementation (budget/time).
The group treasury team has facilitated the company’s ambitious growth agenda by delivering balance sheet capacity and sound treasury execution to operate a transformed business. This transaction was a prime example of that, all of which was delivered against a challenging macro backdrop in Q224. The team demonstrated acute strategic and tactical execution throughout the transaction, with seamless engagement across many areas of Informa’s organisation from finance, investor relations, treasury, legal and corporate development, amongst others. The team were clear on the intended size and shape of the transaction from the outset. However, they actively solicited advice from the banking group throughout the process, on topics ranging from debt structuring, approach to marketing, optimum mix of tenors and the appropriate pricing strategy that would enable them to retain maximum flexibility throughout execution.
Yann Leray
Head of Cash Management UK, Ireland and GCC, BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is honoured to extend its warmest congratulations to the Informa plc treasury team on their outstanding achievement in securing the Best Funding Solution award. The team’s exceptional strategic and tactical execution in delivering a complex funding package for the £1.2bn acquisition of Ascential, while simultaneously refinancing the group’s core revolving credit facility and establishing a full euro curve, is a testament to their expertise and dedication. BNP Paribas is honoured to have been a part of this transaction and to have had the opportunity to work alongside such a talented and collaborative team. Our sincerest admiration for your accomplishments and our gratitude for the trust you have placed in us as your banking partner.
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The Adam Smith Awards are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. The 2025 awards attracted 454 nominations. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards
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