LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity firm Blackstone (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) joined a consortium bidding for publishing group Informa (INF.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after its tie-up with Dubai fell through, a source familiar with the situation said.
“They (Blackstone) are in the process of joining,” the source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Carlyle Group CYL.UL and Providence Equity Partners secured a financing package to back the buyout of the British group, senior banking sources told Reuters on Tuesday, improving the chances of a successful sale.
Blackstone had first formed a rival bidding consortium with the Investment Corporation of Dubai, but the partnership had ended after Dubai pulled out, the first source said.
Carlyle and Providence have assembled a group of around 12 banks to provide a leveraged loan of around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.66 billion) that will finance the purchase, the banking sources told Reuters this week.
The deal would be one of the largest leveraged buy-outs since the credit crunch struck in mid 2007.
(Reporting by Douwe Miedema; Editing by Greg Mahlich)