Private equity vies for Reed unit

The auction of the trade-magazines business of Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier is heating up. First round bids went in a week ago and a number of private equity firms on both sides of the Atlantic are vying for the assets, which include Variety, Farmers Weekly and New Scientist.

The list of private equity names interested includes Candover, Cinven, TPG, Bain, Providence, Advent and Quadrangle, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. Some of those have teamed up, such as Candover and Cinven, one source said.

The Daily Telegraph reports that up to 12 bidders submitted first-round offers for the business, valued at between 1billion and 1.25 billion sterling. That paper reports that strategic bidders interested include U.S. publishing firm McGraw Hill, which it says teamed up with Advent and Quadrangle. Nielsen is also understood to have shown interest, the paper reported. The Telegraph also said TPG teamed up with DLJ Merchant Banking, the private equity arm of Credit Suisse.

It would be a decent sized deal for a private equity firm to buy in this drought of opportunities. Reed, which put the asset on the block to reduce its exposure to cyclical advertising spending, also said last month there was a lot of interest in the unit.

(Additional reporting by Eleanor Wason in London)

(Picture from Reed’s website)