The Week That Was – 18 Sept

Clarion gets ready

Blackstone is reportedly preparing to divest Global Sources (GS), the Hong Kong -based subsidiary of Clarion Events in what is assumed to be preparation for a resumed $1.5bn sale process for Clarion, the world’s third largest trade show group. GS could be valued at some $600-700mn (10x EBITDA) (Bloomberg) Background.

GlobalData slows

Tightening economies are prompting companies to tighten their budgets for B2B data and intelligence, according to the UK listed, international provider GlobalData. In 2023, it had a target of £500mn revenue and a 45% EBITDA margin. But it’s now expected to deliver a no-growth £326mn and a 34% margin. The company, majority-owned by founder Mike Danson, generates 39% of its revenue from its health division which is 40% owned by Inflexion private equity. At the time of the 2024 deal, the division was valued at £1bn. GlobalData’s share have lost 50% YTD and the company now has an enterprise value of £533mn. Background

• The UK’s second largest regional news group, USA Today’s Newsquest, has reached 159,000 paying digital subscribers, up 18% to 159k. 2025 revenue down 1.9% to £182.6m. Ebitda was 1.4% higher at £43.4m, while total headcount fell 2.3% at 1,523. Background

• Amazon Prime Video is launching a dedicated news destination in the US featuring short-form video clips of local news, weather and national news reports.
• A Washington DC court has dismissed two US online forums’ lawsuit against UK regulator Ofcom. It said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on 4chan and Kiwi Farms’ legal action. The owners of the internet forums clashed with Ofcom over its enforcement of the UK’s Online Safety Act. (Reuters)
• Associated Press said it has no plans to change its references to Lake Ontario, after President Donald Trump issued an ‘executive order’ designating is as ‘Lake America’.
• YouTube says 67% of 14–44-year-olds say they consume channels that “no one else they personally know is watching”.  
• “The Financial Times has put a lot of time and effort into building our younger audiences…The first thing we did was to make it a strategic priority for the company. There were lots of micro efforts going on around the company, but we said ‘okay, this is something that we need to join up, and it’s going to become an initiative at a strategic company level’.” Jon Slade, CEO, Financial Times, who said the FT is on track to reach 850k registered readers under the age of 35 by 2030. (Press Gazette) Background