Axel Springer SE, the German company that had expressed an interest in acquiring Forbes Media LLC, has officially dropped out of the bidding for the company,
Bloomberg reported.
Spice Global Investments Pvt of Singapore has stopped discussions about buying Forbes, and Fosun International Ltd. of China “hasn’t held active talks for the asset for some time,” the article said.
Forbes is seeking up to $400 million in the sale, the report noted.
“Axel Springer, Spice and Fosun were the only bidders known to be interested in buying Forbes,” the article said, citing anonymous sources. Axel Springer publishes the Russian edition of
Forbes
magazine, the report noted.
The Bloomberg report said that Steve Forbes, Forbes Media’s chairman and the editor-in-chief of
Forbes
magazine, “wanted a significant role after the company’s sale.” The Bloomberg article said, “His potential influence over the company scared away potential buyers that wanted to run the entity their way.”
According to the Bloomberg report, Forbes may attempt a management buyout of the company if it is not sold to an outside buyer.
Citing
The Fall of the House of Forbes,
a book by Stewart Pinkerton that was published in 2011, the Bloomberg article said Condé Nast made a $400 million offer for Forbes in 2004, but the family turned it down because they thought it was too low. (Source: Bloomberg, April 24, 2014.)
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