RiskMetrics Puts Itself On The Block

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Risk advisory firm RiskMetrics Group Inc (RMG.N) has put itself up for sale and has spoken to potential bidders, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Boutique bank Evercore partners is handling the sale, two sources familiar with the situation said. They asked not to be named because the process is not yet public.

A deadline has not been set for the first round of bids, but the seller has spoken to interested parties, the first source said.

The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said the company could fetch around $1.3 billion in an auction.

The newspaper reported that a number of media and private equity companies had been contacted about the potential acquisition of RiskMetrics.

According to the report, MSCI Inc (MXB.N), Bloomberg, McGraw-Hill Cos Inc (MHP.N) and Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO)(TRI.N) are interested parties.

RiskMetrics, MSCI and Bloomberg could not be reached for comment. Thomson Reuters and McGraw-Hill declined comment.

(Reporting by Jui Chakravorty and Megan Davies; additional reporting by Robert MacMillan; editing by Andre Grenon)