In a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning (Thursday), the consortium, which includes Providence Equity Partners and The Carlyle Group, confirmed that investment funds advised by Blackstone have now joined its consortium. The consortium first approached Informa for a buyout at 506 pence per share - a total offer of £2.15bn ($3.8bn) - earlier this year.
It added that "for the avoidance of doubt, [private equity firm] Hellman & Friedman is no longer part of the consortium at the current time and, accordingly, the Consortium members are currently Providence, Carlyle and Blackstone".
The statement went on to say that Hellman & Friedman "reserves the right to participate in the consortium or to make an offer for Informa (either alone or acting in concert with another person or persons)".
Blackstone had first formed a rival bidding group with the Investment Corporation of Dubai, but decided to join the Providence and Carlyle consortium once Dubai had pulled out of the partnership, according to reports.
.jpg)
.jpg)