RE: Candover and Cinven & springer

[Howard Stanbury <H.STANBURY@IFIS.ORG>]

[NB from the Moderator: Thanks to all for this information from the
Times article.  At this point, having forwarded 3 such messages, we'll
stop forwarding should there be any more -- but your quick resonses
are all much appreciated.]

I'll paraphrase the article for you:

The joint bid is confirmed from Candover and Cinven at GBP 650m. They are
at the front of the queue to buy the business because trade buyers such as
Elsevier have decided not to join the auction. The sale is expected to be
arranged in March.

A source is quoted as saying: "We no longer expect any of the big players
in the market such as Wolters Kluwer or Thomson Corporation to make a
move. And the offer from Cinven and Candover is strong."

Bertelsman is selling because it wants to re-focus on television and music
interests; C&C are attracted because "it has stable subscriptions and
scope for price rises. It makes profits of more than �46m. Raising a large
bank loan to help finance the deal would be made easier by this secure
cashflow."

The rest of the short report reviews the purchase by C&C of Kluwer
Academic and the events that forced Bertelsman to sell.

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