ICE organiser Clarion sold to Informa for £2.24bn
Clarion, the business behind ICE – the gambling industry's largest exhibition – has agreed to be bought by Informa in a £2.24 billion transaction.
What Informa is paying
The price represents around 11 times Clarion's expected EBITDA. Informa says the multiple falls to about 9 times after £50 million of planned cost savings and to roughly 8 times when a further £25 million of expected operating profit growth is included. It is financing the deal with a dedicated acquisition loan and an equity placing of around £940 million. Completion is pencilled in for the end of Q4 2026, subject to regulatory approval.
- Transaction value: £2.24 billion.
- ICE 2027 takes place 18–20 January in Barcelona under Informa.
- Clarion chief executive Lisa Hannant joins Informa's leadership.
More than one show
ICE swapped London's ExCeL for Barcelona in 2025, the same year iGB Live left Amsterdam for ExCeL. Clarion also runs DSEI, IFA Berlin and Distributec. Informa CEO Stephen A. Carter said the acquisition strengthens the group's B2B events business.
Why Ottawa players should care
New slots and table games are usually unveiled at ICE before they reach casino floors and online lobbies. Find out what's popular in our slots and casino games guides.
Source: SBC News, 6 October 2026. This article is based on publicly reported news; our editors summarised and rewrote it for Ottawa readers.