Credit rating agency Fitch has pulled out of the bidding for financial media firm Acuris, leaving rival Moody’s as one of the strongest contenders to win the more than $1.30 billion deal, reports Pamela Barbaglia of Reuters.
Barbaglia writes, “The U.S. ratings agency is now vying with ION Trading – a software provider for electronic trading, pricing and risk management – to win control, the sources said.
“Fitch Ratings failed to secure the backing of its owner Hearst, the publisher of San Francisco Chronicle and Cosmopolitan, which pulled the plug on the deal due to its hefty price tag, the sources said.
“Big buyout funds have also struggled to match BC Partners’ price expectations and while most investors have walked away, the sources said some funds were allowed to progress in the auction, without naming them.”
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