NY Post: Bloomberg held talks to take media company public

Michael Bloomberg has been in talks to take his media empire public through an entity controlled by billionaire Bill Ackman, reports Thornton McEnery of the New York Post.

McEnery reports, “If the men reach a deal, Bloomberg’s stock would trade on the New York Stock Exchange in place of Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, a blank-check company that’s raised $5 billion to buy or merge with another company that would then take its stock listing.

“It’s unclear whether Bloomberg will move forward with a partial sale, but the billionaire — worth an estimated $55 billion, according to Forbes —has spoken about the plan directly with Ackman, sources said.

“Sources say the deal on the table calls for the three-term ex-NYC mayor — who rose to national prominence this year when he sought the Democrat nomination for president — to sell a small personal stake so he can cash out without giving up control of news agency he founded in 1981, of which he owns 88 percent.

“A Bloomberg LP spokesman told The Post that the company is not for sale in any form and denied that a deal is being explored.”

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