T&F fades as Informa adopts old moniker

An extraordinary general meeting of T&F Informa's shareholders has approved a name change that will see the Taylor & Francis acronym disappear from the group's trading name for good.

But the company has insisted that the rebirth of the Informa moniker as the "PLC brand" does not signal a diminishing commitment to – and appetite for growth in – the academic publishing market.

A company spokesman told IWR: "The name change is the result of a branding exercise that was undertaken to simplify the Group's corporate identity. The name Informa describes what the company does, which is provide must-have information to a range of audiences. All key brands and imprints are being kept and we are committed to investing in all areas of the group, including the academic businesses."

The company's interim results are due on 22 September, and will reflect the effect of its sizeable acquisition of IIR Holdings, the events business, in July.

Shortly before this acquisition was announced, there were reports in the national press that T&F Informa was engaged in negotiations to buy other major academic publishing businesses, with Germany's Springer named as a potential target.

The company spokesman said information professionals could expect to see all the major academic brands, including Taylor & Francis and Routledge, remain unaffected by this change.

In March this year, T&F Informa's chairman David Smith unexpectedly resigned from the merged board due to "personal reasons". Smith had been the most senior of the Taylor & Francis appointments to T&F Informa, and his departure leaves Tony Foye, finance director, as the only remaining T&F member of the executive board.

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