Josh Kosman of the New York Post reports that the Newhouse family was an unsuccesful bidder for Mergermarket, which was sold Friday by Pearson Plc for $624 million.
Kosman writes, “The Newhouse family owns the American City Business Journals chain and would have added Mergermarket to that stable.
“They attended management meetings and planned to use personal funds to pursue a bid, according to a source close to one of the bidders.
“‘They were not as quick with their due diligence’ as the PE firms, the source said.
“A Condé spokeswoman didn’t return an e-mail for comment.
“Ratings firm Fitch also made a bid, the source said.
“Mergermarket is selling for 16 times its annual pre-tax income. The group makes most of its money from selling subscriptions to Debtwire, which focuses on the junk bond market, and Mergermarket, which reports on deal strategy. The business also includes Dealreporter.”
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