IEG, Italian Exhibition Group, a company listed on Euronext Milan and Italy’s leader in organizing international trade shows, rose 3.2% on the Milan Stock Exchange, leading a positive trading session: it benefited, in fact, from the “read-across” effect (the “spillover” effect between a company’s transactions and the impact these have on the stock prices of other companies in the same sector) from the transaction in which Informa, the world’s largest exhibition group, announced the acquisition of Clarion, a U.K.-based company that owns over 100 business-to-business live event brands, at a multiple of 11.1 times estimated ebitda for 2027 (EV of 2.24 billion pounds).

Informa announced the acquisition of event organizer Clarion for 2.24 billion pounds (equivalent to over 2.65 billion euros) and the spin-off of its academic publishing division, Taylor & Francis, as part of a strategy to expand its rapidly growing live events business. Informa has proposed a £940 million capital increase to partially finance the acquisition of Clarion, which is owned by the Blackstone fund.

Following the acquisition of Clarion, the live B2B events division will generate revenues exceeding 4.2 billion pounds through approximately 1,000 specialized B2B brands, operating in over 40 market categories and in more than 30 countries.

This is the third major transaction of 2026 closed at valuations ranging from 11 to 13 times ebitda, following those involving Hyve and Emerald, with the sector attracting record capital inflows and now having a clear benchmark for valuation.

“Three transactions closed at multiples of 11–13 times ebitda over a five-month period contrast with the approximately 5.8–6 times ebitda estimated by IEG for the 2026–27 period, highlighting a discount of about 50%,” note analysts at TP ICAP Midcap. “This is despite comparable margins (29.4% in the first half of 2026) and a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 1x. With Emerald’s delisting and Informa’s acquisition of Clarion, IEG remains one of the few publicly traded companies exposed to the European trade show sector. Its business model is successful, with implied growth of 11% projected for 2026. The main limitation remains the free float, given that approximately 74% of the capital is held by public shareholders. In our view, the upside potential lies in a re-rating, a scenario that is increasingly difficult to ignore in light of every new transaction completed at multiples of 11–13 times ebitda.”

Analysts at TP ICAP Midcap also note that the ABB transaction brought 3.4% of the company’s capital (shares worth approximately 14 million euros) to the market, easing one of the stock’s historical constraints: liquidity. “The technical pressure resulting from the placement has pushed IEG back to multiples that we believe are unjustified compared to those paid in the sector,” the analysts emphasize.