The cut in the offer price for Informa was driven by Blackstone as the private equity group flexed its muscles when it joined the consortium bidding for the publisher of Lloyd’s List last month.

The Financial Times has learnt that Providence Equity and the Carlyle Group were considering a bid at about 475p but Blackstone considered the offer too high and drove it down to 450p, valuing Informa at about £3bn ($5.3bn).