Informa Acquires Penton ... and Things Are Good

As most of you know, earlier this summer, Informa PLC proposed to purchase Penton Information Services in a US$1.4 billion deal. We’re pleased to announce that the acquisition has been completed, and we’re excited about next steps. You can see the official announcement from Informa online here.

Since Informa acquired Virgo Publishing three years ago, we’ve had the experience of working with a driven team focused on helping make markets and support business growth. As we’ve collaborated with our now-colleagues on Vitafoods, we’ve seen new initiatives on both sides of the pond informed by our learnings. And we’ve remained committed to the natural products industry, providing the information and forums you need to make critical connections.

Since the early 1990s, Jon Benninger and I have been active in the natural products space—I even started my industry career at New Hope (the photo below was my first Expo West back in 1993). We were there before DSHEA, before the Flavr Savr tomato. We remember the “Gooch-able” standard and have seen Whole Foods’ impact on CPG products in every retail channel. At SupplySide West and Expo West, we talk with our friends about how folks never leave this industry—they always show up again at a different company, still interested in supporting the growth of this natural products space.

Here in Phoenix, our business has gone from a single entrepreneur owner, into private equity ownership (several times), and now we’re part of Informa, a company dedicated to events, content and knowledge, which serves many different specialist communities across the world. And things are good. We’re investing in growth, in content, in the event experience. And we are excited we now have the chance to think about how we move forward with the talented, committed team at New Hope as part of the family. More to come in the months and years ahead, but we wanted to thank you for your continued passion and support. And if you've got questions, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or Jon at [email protected].