M&A: New Informa-led “inD” Joint Venture with Dubai World Trade Centre
As a stand-alone, the new business would compete for a spot among the five largest exhibition organisers globally.
Informa plc and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) are merging their Live B2B Events businesses into a new Joint Venture (JV), called “inD”.
The new company will be in charge of Informa’s wholly owned B2B Live Events business in the United Arab Emirates and wider IMEA region (excluding Saudi Arabia), as well as DWTC’s B2B Live Events business. Informa will hold 52% of the business, which will be fully consolidated and reported within the Informa group. 2026 revenues from inD are expected to be above 650 million USD, with adjusted operating profit margins of 30%+.
The JV represents Informa’s largest partnership business globally, with around 1,000 staff, operating over 40 major B2B brands, including Healthcare (WHX Dubai), Energy (Middle East Energy), Aviation (Dubai Air Show), Food & Beverage (Gulfood - The World’s Biggest F&B Event), Information & Communications Technology (GITEX GLOBAL Largest Tech & Startup Show in the World) and Information Security (GISEC GLOBAL). With this announcement, Informa and DWTC follow through on an initial statement from March 2025, when plans to collaborate were first published.
Our data at jwc shows that the MEA region has seen accelerated growth in the global exhibition industry, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia continuing to scale up capacities and locking in further growth as venue capacities expand. The launch og inD coincides with significant expansion of Dubai’s second major exhibition venue, the Dubai Exhibition Centre, adding more space in 2026, which will take Dubai’s total capacity to more than 230k gross square metres.
Informa’s other major business partnership in the region is Tahaluf, a Joint Venture with the Events Investment Fund in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.