Blackstone [NYSE:BX] is in the early stages of exploring a sale of Clarion Events, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

Deliberations are nascent, with a sale process for the London-headquartered global events firm expected no earlier than the second half of 2025, although no final decision has been made on the timing, three of the sources said.

Sellside advisers have yet to be appointed, the sources said.

Clarion Events is projected to generate GBP 150m in EBITDA in FY24, according to three of the sources.

This comes after last week’s announcement by UK academic publisher and events group Informa [LON:INF] of its proposed acquisition of events and analytics group Ascential [LON:ASCL] for GBP 1.2bn.

Blackstone, which acquired Clarion Events in 2017 for GBP 600m, conducted initial conversations for a potential sale of the business in January 2020 with Barclays engaged to handle inquiries from interested parties, as reported.

The private equity firm later provided around USD 100m of additional capital to the company in October of the same year to help it navigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the closure of major shows and live events.

Founded in 1947, Clarion, which delivers events worldwide across several sectors including in the electronics, gaming, energy, security and defence, public safety, and technology sectors, has over 1,700 employees in 49 offices globally, according to its 2023 company filings.

Representatives for Blackstone and Clarion Events declined to comment.