Informa Buys Datamonitor

According to sources, Informa approached Datamonitor several months ago about acquiring the company and discussions resulted in the sale of the company. Datamonitor CEO Mike Danson is expected to receive over £60million as his share of Datamonitor. The total purchase price is £502million which is close to the current market cap but represents over 27x next years expected income. A high multiple indeed; however it should be expected that this company will fit well with the current Informa products and that some significant economies are anticipated once the product lines are combined. From The Telegraph,

According to Informa, the purchase represents an "attractive opportunity" that fits with its strategy of supplying specialist content to a business audience. David Gilbertson, managing director of Informa, said: "Datamonitor is a model example of a company that slots neatly into the Informa group. Both companies provide business customers with data and analysis that is essential and unique - information they cannot do without."