Informa buys Labelexpo owner Tarsus

London-based publishing and events firm Informa has announced the acquisition of business-to-business events group Tarsus Group. The announcement, made on 9 March 2023, came alongside Informa’s strong full-year performances across all its businesses and continued operating momentum into 2023.

13 Mar 2023 | By Noel D'Cunha

Informa informed that the USD 940-million acquisition of London-based Tarsus, a company that Informa has tried to buy twice before, enhances its presence in growing regions such as Asia, China, the Middle East and the Americas.

Tarsus owns a portfolio of more than 160 worldwide B2B events in beauty and aesthetics, healthcare, packaging (Labelexpo), infrastructure and aviation, among others which are complementary, both geographically and by market category, with those of Informa.

In India, Labelexpo India is one of the popular tradeshows. Last year, the seventh edition of Labelexpo India saw a triumphant return, welcoming over 12,000 visitors to the show in Greater Noida, an increase of 22% compared to the last show in 2018.

Ipex was one of Informa’s print events in India in 2009 and 2011, where PrintWeek, was a media partner. In 2018, Informa bought business events and exhibition group UBM. In India, UBM’s events came under Informa Markets, the company’s India subsidiary.

Meanwhile, for 2022, Informa reported a pretax profit of GBP 168.8-million, up sharply from GBP 78.4-million in 2021. Revenue jumped 43% to GBP 2.26-billion from GBP 1.58-billion.

Informa Chief Executive Stephen Carter said Informa was "firmly back in growth". He added, ”We have long admired the Tarsus business, which, like Informa, has been built around major brands in attractive, specialist B2B markets in the growing regions of Asia, China, the Middle East and the Americas.”

In 2019, Charterhouse Capital Partners acquired Tarsus. The covid-19 pandemic, protracted lockdowns in China and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have dampened the progress of international events businesses. Tarsus, too was severely impacted.

The Labelexpo shows in Asia and Europe had to be cancelled. While Labelexpo Asia is now slated to be held in December 2023, Labelexpo Europe will return to its familiar home in Brussels.

Tarsus Chief Executive Officer Douglas Emslie, said, ”I am extremely proud of the Tarsus business, our people and our customers. I could not think of a better partner than Informa to lead our brands and colleagues through the next phase of growth and expansion.”