Rafat Ali of PaidContent.org reports that Thomson Reuters is participating in the bid for BusinessWeek that was put together by Zelnick Media.
Ali reports, “It will not contribute any cash to the deal, if successful, but presumably will have some sort of a content and distribution arrangement. Also, with Zelnick’s bid, we have also learned that there may be other monetary investors involved, though Zelnick surely is the lead on this. As has been reported previously, Zelnick is being advised by former WSJ publisher and Dow Jones exec Gordon Crovitz, who is not likely to take any operating role if the bid is successful.
“As for the reasons Thomson Reuters got interested again, one source said it is because of Bloomberg: it wants to keep a bitter rival from getting a more consumer-facing media brand. Both Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters have been trying to diversify with their consumer efforts, as has been well documented.
“Also BW and McGraw-Hill want to find a media company as a home for the 80-year old brand, rather than a PE shop. With Thomson Reuters involved in the Zelnick bid, it helps tamp down some of those fears within BW. Also, another source says the final decision is not as imminent as it is being made out in press, which probably means there’s some due diligence left on who to choose between the two—unless some last-second bid also comes in. Reuters declined comment on ‘market rumor or speculation.'”
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