Informa plc has bought US business publisher Industry Dive for a reported £323m ($389m).
Industry Dive currently publishes 27 brands including BioPharma Dive, Construction Dive, Cybersecurity Dive, Food Dive, Healthcare Dive, MedTech Dive and Waste Dive, with a total audience of 13 million.
UK-listed Informa said it would quickly launch new Dive brands and roll out new in-person and online events for the existing brands. It is also anticipating increased engagement with Informa’s existing events customers using Industry Dive’s content, as well as the cross-selling of specialist content marketing and lead generation services.
Informa recently reported underlying revenue growth of 40% in the first half of 2022 to £1.1bn with double-digit growth in its B2B digital services division and a “strong return” for in-person events.
Informa has bought Industry Dive from Falfurrias Capital Partners, a US-based private equity firm that took a majority equity interest in the company in 2019.
Informa Group chief executive, Stephen Carter (pictured) said: “Like Informa, Industry Dive champions the specialist.
“Its high quality, targeted business insights have built an enviable following across a range of B2B markets which, when combined with our own portfolio of specialist B2B brands, will create more opportunities to grow B2B audiences, expand into new B2B markets and create value for customers.”
Industry Dive CEO and Co-Founder Sean Griffey said: “Joining Informa is an opportunity to more fully realize Industry Dive’s mission to reach the vast specialist audience in all its breadth and depth.
“This new phase will see us continue to level up our editorial excellence, deepen our insights, and find new ways to serve our clients and partners. As the news and information environment for professionals gets noisier, Industry Dive will stand out even more as a source of original, useful, and in-depth knowledge.”
Founded in 2012 by Griffey and his two co-founders, Ryan Willumson and Eli Dickinson, Industry Dive delivers original news articles and analysis to curated audiences of business leaders and decision-makers. Industry Dive says 13 million executives and leaders, including readers at all of the Fortune 100 companies, receive news via their 27 web-based publications and more than 70 daily and weekly email newsletters.
Industry Dive will remain a standalone business at Informa within its Informa Tech division, which is also home to NetLine, the leading B2B content syndication and lead management platform Informa acquired in 2021, the company said.
Gary Nugent (pictured right) CEO of Informa Tech said: “Industry Dive is highly successful at building B2B audiences through world-class specialist content. We are very excited to bring its expertise, reach and colleagues onboard, as part of our expanding focus on B2B digital services and building known, engaged and marketable audience communities around our leading specialist brands.”
Informa also announced Patrick Martell (pictured left) as CEO from 2023.
