Business Breakdowns
Episode 193 Informa: Where Industries Meet
Business Breakdowns

Episode 193: Informa: Where Industries Meet

Business Breakdowns

Episode 193

Informa: Where Industries Meet

Nick Shenton is a Fund Manager at Artemis Investment Management. We cover the trade show business model and how it recovered from the impacts of COVID, the advantages of operating in a capital-light manner, how Informa is navigating the shift to digital publishing, and the parallels between its capital allocation strategy and that of LVMH.

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Show Notes

(00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns

(00:07:37) Informa's Business Model and Key Assets

(00:09:46) Revenue Breakdown and Financial Performance

(00:12:51) Historical Background and Growth

(00:16:54) Impact of COVID-19 and Technological Advancements

(00:20:24) Economics of Live Events

(00:25:28) Challenges and Cyclicality in the Events Business

(00:32:03) Informa's Publishing Arm: Taylor and Francis

(00:34:39) Criticisms and Value of Publishing Models

(00:36:31) Digital Transition in Publishing

(00:37:45) Introduction to TechTarget

(00:38:36) TechTarget's Unique Market Position

(00:43:22) Financial Overview and Valuation

(00:46:17) Risks and Industry Dynamics

(00:50:39) M&A Strategy and Capital Allocation

(00:57:22) Lessons from Informa's Success

Informa: Where Industries Meet

Introduction

Matt
This is Matt Reustle, and today we are breaking down Informa. For me, Informa is the most interesting business in media, and I'm going to share a bit of extra detail in this intro because I think it's relevant when I make a statement like that.

Everyone I know that runs a media business talks about Informa. No one I know in investing talks about Informa. So when our guest today, Nick Shenton from Artemis, mentioned it as a potential breakdown, I jumped at the opportunity.

At its core, Informa is a live events business, and I have this theory that investors are only familiar with bland, utilitarian conferences. I was in this camp. It was only when I stepped out and saw that there was much more happening in other industries.

The best industry events are special assets, and they come with a compelling financial model which Nick details. Informa also has a publishing business that feels similar to Harvard Business Publishing, which we covered on a different breakdown. And what intrigues me the most is their first-party data efforts in the B2B space, and that's evidenced by the recent TechTarget merger.

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