LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Informa said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Cannes Lions Festival owner Ascential for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), adding the prominent advertising industry conference to its portfolio of events.

Ascential, which also owns the Money20/20 fintech events, said on Tuesday after the market closed that it had received the cash offer, which it was minded to recommend.

Informa said it would expand both events into more sectors and accelerate growth, helped by its first-party data platform and understanding of both the marketing and fintech sectors.

It has agreed to pay 568 pence per share, representing a 53% premium on the closing price of 371 pence on Monday.

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Informa announced the deal alongside its first-half results that showed underlying operating profit growth of 18.8% and revenue growth of 11%.

The strong performance enabled it to upgrade its expectations for the full year.

It said adjusted operating profit would be above the top of current guidance, which stands at 970 million pounds, and now could be up to 1 billion pounds. ($1 = 0.7756 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle in London and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Alex Richardson)