Informa Tech/TechTarget merger would create a B2B data giant

We’ve updated this article with comments from current TechTarget CEO Mike Cotoia.

The proposed combination of London-based media and data company Informa PLC’s Informa Tech and Massachusetts-based TechTarget would create a B2B data giant.

The deal, announced last week, is subject to approval by TechTarget shareholders. If approved, the combined company, which will be called TechTarget, will offer B2B marketers in the technology sector a broad range of products and capabilities.

Perhaps most importantly, the new TechTarget will be awash in first-party data from people researching business technology purchases across a sizable portfolio of web properties, analyst firms and digital platforms.

How did we get here?

Many of the B2B tech media brands in the proposed deal are well-known to B2B marketers. Many of the brands go back decades and are no strangers to mergers and acquisitions.

Both Informa Tech and TechTarget used strategic acquisitions to build their portfolios of properties over the years.

The Informa Tech portfolio includes media brands like Industry Dive, Information Week, Light Reading and AI Business; research firms Omdia and Canalys; and lead generation platform NetLine.

TechTarget’s portfolio includes more than 150 websites under the TechTarget umbrella; research firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG); and virtual events and video platform BrightTALK.

As the value of audience data increased and B2B marketers in the tech sector, in particular, emphasized buyer intent data, both TechTarget and Informa Tech responded accordingly.

TechTarget offers a buyer intent platform called Priority Engine that gives marketers access to data about prospects actively researching tech solutions. Informa Tech created IIRIS, a B2B customer data platform that collates, standardizes and analyzes all of the first-party data generated by its portfolio.

Dig deeper: Why first-party data collection should be a priority for marketers

First-party takes centerstage

The impact of the deprecation of third-party cookies and the resulting thirst for first-party data is all over the proposed 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.

First-party data and scale were both mentioned in a statement by Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive at Informa.

”Today we significantly strengthen 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 live and on-demand B2B events,” Carter said. ”Over the last three years, Informa has built a proprietary first-party data platform, IIRIS, and expanded our position in the B2B Digital Services market. Now, through a majority shareholding in US-listed TechTarget, we are positioning this business firmly where the customers and the value are.”

According to Informa, the total addressable market (TAM) of the new TechTarget will expand customer reach by more than 10x. The new company will also be positioned to drive revenue and growth in new technology-enabled B2B markets.

TechTarget’s CEO sees scale, content as advantages

The proposed combination of TechTarget and Informa Tech is about scale in a number of areas, said Mike Cotoia, the CEO of TechTarget since 2016.

The size of the permission-based audience will, of course, be larger, but so will the company’s geographic footprint if the deal is approved. A combined company could better serve global marketing teams at enterprise vendors, for example.

Cotoia said the combination will also provide scale for marketers trying to reach buyers in vertical markets.Business technology buyers increasingly sit in line-of-business (LOB) positions outside of centralized IT organizations. To reach these buyers, marketers need to work with media companies focused on vertical markets like healthcare, financial services and construction.

TechTarget acquired Xtelligent Healthcare Media in 2021 to break into the healthcare vertical. The addition of Informa Tech’s Industry Dive properties, if the proposed deal is approved, would include coverage for more than 30 additional verticals.

Like most B2B publishers, Cotoia said TechTarget serves two groups: The marketers who need to reach buyers and the tech buyers themselves.

The B2B marketers, he said, are interested in how they can activate intent data and find the fastest, most accurate path to the next deal. But they’re also trying to make their work easier.

“B2B marketers want to do more with less. They’ve added leads, they’ve added data and they’ve added martech and sales tech solutions. Now they want to simplify it,” Cotoia said. “And they want better conversions.”

On the buyers’ side of the equation, the combination of TechTarget and Informa Tech is about delivering high-quality content, according to Cotoia, because the way business technology buyers research and purchase changed significantly in the past decade.

“Today’s tech buyer is a younger buyer who relies less on sales reps and more on trusted content and experts,” Cotoia said. “We’re making sure we provide the impressive content they’re looking for when they’re evaluating options and making critical decisions for their tech stack.”

Cotoia expects content to remain central to TechTarget’s strategy going forward.

“We’re a publisher at heart, as we understand the value of leading with trusted, smart content because that’s what our readers and today’s tech buyer refer to when it comes to making decisions,” Cotoia said.

With an impressive collection of first-party data, vast content resources and an international footprint, a combined TechTarget and Informa Tech would cut an imposing figure on the B2B media playing field.

How will the competition respond? Cotoia has a prediction: More M&A activity.

“I think consolidation is really a trend that is going to keep going,” he said.

Details of the proposed deal

The structure of the proposed TechTarget-Informa Tech deal is slightly more complicated than many acquisitions, even by the standards of publicly traded entities.

Informa PLC will contribute its Informa Tech digital businesses and $350 million of cash in exchange for a 57% stake in the New TechTarget.

The new entity keeps the TechTarget name, and its headquarters in Newton, Mass. It will also keep its TTGT ticker symbol, as the new TechTarget will be traded on the NASDAQ and classified as a Controlled Company. The new CEO will be Gary Nugent, who now holds that position at Informa Tech.