Informa shares fall after it rejects takeover bid

LONDON: Shares at Informa PLC, the London-based publisher of Lloyd's List maritime newspaper, fell 6 percent on Friday after the company rejected a reduced takeover bid from a private equity consortium.

Informa said Thursday that the consortium's offer, of 450 pence (US$7.93) a share, significantly undervalued the company.

The publisher had previously received an approach of 506 pence (US$8.91) in July, which valued the company at 2.15 billion pounds (US$3.79 billion).

The reduced offer, and subsequent rejection, came after a shake-up in the consortium making the offer earlier on Thursday.

Blackstone Management Partners LLP replaced fellow US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC to join Providence Equity LLP and The Carlyle Group in the bidding group.

Informa owns more than 2,000 trade publication and arranges some 10,000 business conferences each year and has a presence in some 40 countries.

An earlier takeover attempt by United Business Media ground to a halt in June.

``Interest in Informa has demonstrated the attractiveness of the company's business model, the quality of its assets and people,'' said Informa's CEO Peter Rigby.

Shares fell by as much as 8.7 percent in early Friday trading on the London Stock Exchange, but had recovered slightly by midmorning to 388 pence (US$6.83), a decline of 6.5 per cent.