Ascential shares soar after £1.2bn bid from Informa

Publishing and exhibitions group Informa on Wednesday said it was buying rival Ascential in an agreed £1.2bn deal.

The 568p-a-share offer price represented a 53% premium to Ascential's closing price of 22 July, Informa said on Wednesday.

Shares in Ascential, which owns the famous Cannes Lions Festival - known as the 'Oscars of advertising' - surged to 564 pence in early deals, a jump of 26%.

Informa said the acquisition would lift adjusted earnings per share by at least 5% in the first full year, based on strong revenue growth along with £12m in cost savings.

It also released first-half results, with underlying operating profit growth of 18.8%, while revenue grew 11%. Annual adjusted operating profit was now tipped to be above the top of current guidance of £970m with upper estimates of £1bn.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com