Dubai group and Blackstone seen eyeing Informa

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Dubai group and Blackstone seen eyeing Informa

30/07/2008 11:06

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - A unit of Dubai sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation Dubai has teamed up with private equity group Blackstone and others to buy British media group Informa , the Financial Times reported.

A consortium of private equity groups Providence Equity Partners, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman have been in talks to buy Informa for about 3.2 billion pounds.

But the newspaper said on Wednesday Hellman & Friedman had walked away.

It said Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), one of the biggest events organisers in the Middle East, is seeking to buy Informa’s IIR conference and events division.

"At this point it is speculation and we have no further comment," a DWTC spokeswoman said.

Blackstone and other private equity groups, possibly including Permira, would keep Informa’s Taylor & Francis academic publishing division, while seeking trade buyers for other units, such as the Datamonitor business information arm, the paper said.

Jessica Sutherland, General Manager IIR Middle East was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Mark Potter in London and John Irish in Dubai; Editing by Erica Billingham)

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