UK Newspaper Says McGraw Hill Also Interested in Reed Elsevier
Written by Sean Hocking
Regular readers will know that offers have been coming in for Reed Elsevier from private equity...
The Telegraph (UK) newspaper now reports (20 July) that McGraw Hill may be interested in the group.
They write:
Reed's bank, UBS, has asked for first round bids to be in by mid August. Candover, Cinven, Permira, Advent International, Providence Equity Partners, Bain and Texas Pacific Group (TPG) are thought to be amongst the more serious bidders.
RBI is the largest business-to-business publisher in North America, with 2,500 employees and 80 magazines, and its sale has pricked the interest of the US buyout firms. Bain's United States media investments include Warner Music Group and a recent deal to acquire Clear Channel Communications, the broadcaster and outdoor advertiser.
TPG owns Debenhams in the UK and has been looking for European media investments.
The McGraw Hill Companies, owner of Standard & Poor's credit rating agency, has titles which overlap with RBI in aviation and construction. McGraw publishes Aviation Week and a collection of architectural and engineering titles, while RBI has a large portfolio of construction titles including Construction News and Professional Builder.
The money raised from RBI will help offset the £2.1bn acquisition of ChoicePoint, a risk management database used by insurers, and any future purchases.
