US buyout firm Bain Capital is reportedly now the favourite to buy the business-publishing arm of Reed Elseiver, after private equity-firm Texas Pacific Group pulled out of negotiations this weekend.
Reed Elsevier announced in February that it was looking to sell Reed Business Information (RBI), which publishes New Scientist and Farmers Weekly.
However, The Sunday Telegraph reports that the sale of RBI ‘is far from being concluded” as Reed Elseiver’s management remain unhappy about Bain Capital’s conditions relating to the sale, some of which could tie key executives to RBI for a number of years.
A ‘shortage of bidders and weak debt market’may yet cause the sale to be scrapped, according to The Sunday Times. The group had hoped to raise £1.2bn from the sale, but offers are now around the £650m mark.
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