Shares in Informa fell sharply on Tuesday after the publisher of Lloyd’s List, confirmed it had held early stage talks with its rival Springer Science and Business Media over buying the German academic publisher, whose private equity owners are looking to sell the whole business at a reduced valuation.
Springer, owned by the UK private equity groups Candover and Cinven, was initially negotiating with leading private equity rivals to sell a stake of as much as 49 per cent for about €400m (£360m).
