There seems to be a willing buyer and a willing seller. Why, then, does the market not believe it? On Wednesday, Informa confirmed it had received a tentative approach days earlier from a private equity consortium. But shares hovered in the mid 420s, well adrift of the putative 500p bid.

The consortium looks determined. Providence, a media-focused firm, was the under-bidder when Informa bought IIR, an events manager, three years ago. Informa’s board, meanwhile, should find a cash offer hard to resist, even though it rejected a 630p offer in 2006. Bearing in mind the fragile trading environment, shareholders should be tempted. Peter Rigby, the chief executive, may also have a personal interest in joining David Gilbertson, his long-term sparring partner, in private equity; this year Mr Gilbertson, chief executive of Informa until March, joined Emap’s business-to-business arm, owned by Apax.