Informa Acquires Financial Times Newsletters

The Informa Group has bought the Newsletters division of the Financial Times, adding 60 newsletters, 600 management reports and 24 directories to its portfolio. Informa will pay a total of £13.5 million to Financial Times Business (FTB) for the titles which were put up for sale in September.

Informa emerged as one of the likely suitors for the portfolio in October (see Bidders For FT Newsletters Emerge). Under the terms of the deal with FTB, Informa may continue to use the FT branding for three months after the acquisition. The selection of newsletters includes a number of well-established brands in the fields of telecommunication, media, finance, commodities, pharmaceuticals and automotive. They include Mobile Communications, Telecom Markets and New Media Markets.

Separately, Informa has further augmented its portfolio with the acquisition of Baskerville Communications Corporation. Baskerville is a provider of daily news services, newsletters and management reports to the telecommunications and media sectors.

Commenting on the two deals, Informa’s chief executive, David Gilbertson, says: “The addition of the strong media-related titles from both the FT and the Baskerville portfolios positions Informa to respond to the growing information needs of this market as media and telecommunications increasingly converge with the coming third generation mobile technology.”

Last month Informa bought a number of business magazines and events from EMAP in a £28 million deal(see EMAP Disposes Of Business Titles For £28m).

Informa: 0171 453 2222