RBI: The guesswork begins
Monday, 25 February 2008
According to almost everyone, private equity firms are fundamentally a bad thing, especially if the company you work for happens to be bought by one. And according to the Mail on Sunday yesterday, two of the most famous - Cinven and Apax Partners - are keen to buy RBI (my employer) from current owner Reed Elsevier.
I can’t find the story online, only this note from Thomson Financial:
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Private equity firms Cinven and Apax Partners are preparing plans to bid for Reed Elsevier PLC’s business magazine division, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported.
Internal memos between Apax staff confirm the firm’s interest for Reed Business Information (RBI), which includes New Scientist and Farmers Weekly. It is thought Apax was prepared to pay nearly 1 bln stg, the article reported, without citing sources.
Without citing sources, eh? Doesn’t sound like the Mail.
Common sense suggests private equity firms will be looking at RBI. And if you were to pick two random private equity names out of a hat, these could very well be them. Coincidentally, £1bn (or thereabouts) was the likely sale figure identified by the Guardian last week. In other words, the piece has all the hallmarks of a hopeful punt.
Obviously I know who’s buying RBI - Gerard van de Aast told me while I was playing tennis with him yesterday - but I’ve been sworn to secrecy. Future guesswork by the media will be evaluated on this basis, with me saying warm, cold, etc, until we eventually get there, at which point I will be fired for breaching confidentiality rules. Who’s up for it?
More in a previous post.
