Nobody pays 11.1 times earnings for square footage.

Informa has agreed to buy Clarion Events from Blackstone for $2.96 billion, according to TSNN. The coverage frames it as scale, and the scale is real: TSNN reports the combined B2B events business will pass $6 billion a year across roughly 1,000 brands.

The price says something else. Clarion owns more than 100 event brands, and the ones named are narrow on purpose: IFA Berlin for consumer electronics, DSEI for defense, ICE Barcelona for gaming, and Distributech for energy. In each of those halls, the buyer list is close to the industry list. An organizer can tell an exhibitor who will walk the aisle before the floor plan is drawn.

TSNN reports Informa valued Clarion at 11.1 times expected 2027 earnings. Nobody pays 11.1 times earnings for square footage. That multiple prices predictable attendance, in rooms a competitor cannot easily rebuild.

Square footage is easy to find. A room the whole industry plans its year around is not.