Bankers said Thursday night that the chances of success were fading for a consortium of private equity houses trying to raise money to fund a tentative 506p-a-share approach for Informa.

In separate conversations, four bankers cast doubt on the ability of Providence, Carlyle and Hellman Friedman to find about £1.85bn in debt to buy the publisher of Lloyd’s List.

One sector banker said efforts to put together what would be the world’s largest private equity deal since the credit crunch began almost a year ago had involved at least 12 banks at one point.

The current approach would value Informa at £3.4bn including net debt of £1.25bn. Shares in Informa fell 6.9 per cent to 395p on Thursday even as other media stocks rose, as the markets expressed growing scepticism about the deal.

The consortium lined up financing last month from a group of banks including JPMorgan, ING and Goldman Sachs.

A senior media banker said a “massive number of banks” had been involved in negotiations to put together a financing package.

“They are struggling to get it financed and they are going to more and more banks. Everybody is asking: can this really happen?

“If only one or two banks go wobbly on it, the whole thing comes crashing down.”

Another banker said that at first the lead banks had tried to put together a group of five or six to fund the deal but found themselves forced to extend the number because they needed more financing.

There were rumours Thursday night of a second group, possibly led by Permira, waiting to try their luck at a bid approach.

The Providence-led consortium would not comment on the matter. A person close to the group said he believed they were still working on a deal.

Informa would not comment on the share price movement or speculation. A person close to the company said he was unaware of any statement being prepared, as would have to be the case if there was a substantial change in the status of the approach.