Euromoney’s shares surge after private equity offer

TWO private equity firms have made a £1.6bn bid for the financial publisher founded by the veteran investor Patrick Sergeant.

Epiris, a British buyout firm, and Astorg, a Paris-based group, have tabled a £14.61 per share cash offer for Euromoney, which represents a 33pc premium to its closing share price last Friday.

Euromoney’s shares jumped 27pc to £13.90 in afternoon trading yesterday.

The FTSE 250-listed company said its board was in talks with the private equity groups, but added that “there can be no certainty that an offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made”.

Euromoney sells magazine subscriptions to financial professionals and also runs events.

The company was founded in 1969 by Mr Sergeant, the then City editor of the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) held a large stake in the business before spinning it off in a shareholder distribution in 2019.

The company’s share price plummeted at the beginning of the pandemic as its global events business was badly hit by lockdowns and has not returned to pre-covid levels since.

It comes as buyout groups, which are sitting on large pools of cash, are increasingly looking to target London’s FTSE 250 index of mid-size companies for bargain deals.

Last year, private equity giants swooped on Uk-listed companies at the fastest rate in more than two decades. The highest profile takeover was the £10bn acquisition of supermarket chain Morrisons by Us-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

In 2018, Epiris snapped up magazine chain Time Inc UK and renamed it TI Media, before selling it off to Future a year later.

The two private equity groups are required to lodge a firm offer or walk away by the end of July 18 under UK takeover rules.

The buyout consortium previously made four separate cash offers to Euromoney’s board – ranging from £11.75 to £13.50 per share – the company said.