Private equity firm Cinven has pulled out of the race for Emap’s consumer magazine division, apparently unhappy with the £700m price tag.
This weekend’s
Times reported that Cinven was not willing to pay anywhere near the £700 million asking price in a “challenging” magazine market.
However, the report also says that the American media group Hearst has held talks with Exponent, another private equity firm, about a bid for the consumer magazine division.
It is believed that Exponent wants to gain control of the special interest titles within Emap’s consumer portfolio, whilst Hearst wants the general titles such as FHM.
Second round bids for Emap’s different divisions are due later this month, with the business-to-business division valued at £1.2bn (see Several Bidders In Next Stage Of Emap Sell-Off).
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