We’ve updated this article with the news that the combination of Informa Tech and TechTarget is now official, after TechTarget shareholders approved the deal.
The merger of Informa Tech, a London-based media and data company, and Massachusetts-based TechTarget became official Monday, creating a B2B data giant.
The proposed deal was announced in early 2024 and recently won approval from TechTarget shareholders.
Informa TechTarget will trade on Nasdaq under the symbol TTGT. Informa PLC brought $350 million in cash and Informa Tech’s digital business to Informa TechTarget, in exchange for a 57% stake in the company. The $350 million in cash, or approximately $11.70 per outstanding TechTarget share, will be paid to existing TechTarget shareholders, who also retain a 43% stake in the combined company. Gary Nugent, former CEO of Informa Tech, will serve as CEO of Informa TechTarget.
Informa TechTarget will offer B2B marketers in the technology sector a broad range of products and capabilities. Perhaps most importantly, the company will be replete with first-party data from people researching business technology purchases across a significant portfolio of web properties, analyst firms and digital platforms.
How did we get here?
Many of the B2B technology media brands that fall under Informa TechTarget are well-known to B2B marketers. Many brands have been around for decades and are no strangers to mergers and acquisitions.
Informa Tech and TechTarget have used strategic acquisitions to build their portfolio of properties over the years.
Informa Tech’s portfolio included media brands such as Industry Dive, Information Week, Light Reading and AI Business; the research companies Omdia and Canalys; and the NetLine lead generation platform.
TechTarget’s portfolio included over 150 websites under the TechTarget umbrella; research firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG); and virtual events and BrightTALK video platform.
As the value of audience data grew and B2B marketers in the technology sector, in particular, placed emphasis on buyer intent data, TechTarget and Informa Tech responded accordingly.
TechTarget offered a buyer intent platform called Priority Engine that allows marketers to access data on prospects actively seeking technology solutions. Informa Tech has created IIRIS, a B2B customer data platform that aggregates, standardizes and analyzes all first-party data generated by its portfolio.
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The first party takes center stage
The impact of depreciation of third-party cookies and the resulting thirst for first-party data is pervasive in this deal. One of the challenges many media organizations face when it comes to first-party data is scale: they can’t generate anything comparable to the volume of third-party data.
The first-party data and scale were both mentioned in a statement from Stephen A. Carter, chief executive of Informa Group, when the deal was proposed earlier this year.
“Today, we are significantly strengthening Informa’s position in the growing B2B digital services market, creating a platform to serve B2B customers at scale digitally, as we already do in the framework for live and on-demand B2B events,” Carter said. “Over the past three years, Informa has built a proprietary data platform, IIRIS, and expanded our position in the B2B digital services market. Now, with a majority stake in US-listed TechTarget, we are firmly positioning this company where the customers and the value are.
According to Informa, Informa TechTarget’s Total Addressable Market (TAM) will increase customer reach by more than 10x. The new company will also be able to generate revenue and growth in new technology B2B markets.
TechTarget CEO sees scale and content as advantages
Combining TechTarget and Informa Tech was about scale in a number of areas, TechTarget CEO Mike Cotoia said when the deal was proposed.
The permission-based audience size will of course be larger, as will the company’s geographic footprint if the deal is approved. For example, a combined company could better serve the global marketing teams of enterprise suppliers.
Cotoia said this combination provides scale for marketers trying to reach buyers in vertical markets. Enterprise technology buyers are increasingly occupying line-of-business (LOB) positions outside of centralized IT organizations. To reach these buyers, marketers must work with media companies focused on verticals like healthcare, financial services, and construction.
TechTarget acquired Xtelligent Healthcare Media in 2021 to enter the healthcare industry. The addition of Informa Tech’s Industry Dive properties includes coverage for over 30 additional verticals.
Like most B2B publishers, Cotoia said TechTarget serves two groups: marketers who need to reach buyers and technology buyers themselves.
B2B marketers, he said, are interested in how they can activate intent data and find the fastest, most accurate path to the next transaction. But they also try to make their work easier.
“B2B marketers want to do more with less. They added leads, data, and martech and sales tech solutions. Now they want to simplify it,” Cotoia said. “And they want better conversions.”
On the buyer side, according to Cotoia, the combination of TechTarget and Informa Tech aims to deliver high-quality content because the way business technology buyers research and purchase has changed significantly over the past decade.
“Today’s tech buyer is a younger buyer who relies less on salespeople and more on trusted content and experts,” Cotoia said. “We ensure we deliver the awesome content they are looking for as they evaluate options and make critical decisions for their technology stack.”
Cotoia expects content to remain at the heart of the strategy going forward.
“We’re a publisher at heart because we understand the importance of leading with trusted, intelligent content because that’s what our readers and today’s tech buyers refer to when it’s about making decisions,” Cotoia said.
With an impressive collection of first-party data, extensive content resources and an international footprint, TechTarget and Informa Tech combine to be an imposing figure on the B2B media playing field.
How will the competition react? Cotoia has a prediction: more M&A activity.
“I think consolidation is definitely a trend that’s going to continue,” he said.
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