Informa, the FTSE-100 events group behind the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and World of Concrete, is kicking off a search for its next chairman.
Sky News has learnt that Informa, which has a market capitalisation of about £11.3bn, is working with headhunters to find a successor to John Rishton.
City sources said on Monday that Russell Reynolds Associates was handling the search.
A former chief executive of Rolls Royce Group, Mr Rishton joined the Informa board in September 2016 before taking over as chairman nearly five years later.
People close to the process said he was likely to step down in 2027, by which time he will have served for nearly 11 years as a director.
Informa has a large data division, which has been responsible for a significant proportion of its recent growth.
Its assets include the historic maritime news and analysis service Lloyd’s List, which claims to be the world’s longest published business newspaper.
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Earlier this year, it emerged that Lord Carter, the company’s chief executive, had moved his residency to Dubai to reflect its rapid growth prospects in the Gulf region.
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The launch of a hunt for a new chairman and Lord Carter’s recent relocation makes it increasingly likely that he will extend his current 12-year tenure by at least another two years.
Shares in Informa, which declined to comment on the search for Mr Rishton’s successor, closed on Monday at 885.2p.
