Bloomberg, private equity among those looking at Mergermarket

Bloomberg News and Warburg Pincus are among those considering buying Pearson’s financial news provider Mergermarket ahead of an Oct. 7 deadline for first-round bids, several industry sources close to the deal told Reuters.

Anjuli Davies and Sophie Sassard of Reuters write, “Pearson put subscription-based Mergermarket on the block in July saying it no longer had a place in a group increasingly focused on education, digital services and emerging markets.

“Information has been sent to over 50 potential bidders in total including 25 leverage buyout funds in what is seen as a highly competitive auction, the sources said.

“Trade rival Bloomberg as well as Euromoney and McGraw Hill Financial, which lost to Pearson in a 2006 bid battle for Mergermarket, may be interested in the business, they said.

“News and information company Thomson Reuters is not interested in the business, the sources said. Thomson Reuters declined to comment.

“Private equity firms that could be interested in Mergermarket include Warburg Pincus, which has teamed up with the founder of Mergermarket, Caspar Hobbs, Blackstone, Advent, Exponent, HG capital, Charterhouse, and BC Partners.”

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