FINANCIAL news and information business Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc has agreed to sell itself to a private equity consortium for about £1.6 billion (RM8.51 billion)

Euromoney investors will receive £14.61 per share from Luxembourg-based private equity manager Astorg Asset Management Sarl and British firm Epiris LLP, the companies said in a statement on Monday. Euromoney had announced the talks last month.

The deal is a 34% premium to Euromoney’s share price on June 17, the day before the discussions were disclosed. The buyout companies will separate Euromoney into two businesses, hiving off commodity pricing data business Fastmarkets to become a stand-alone unit that will be owned by Astorg, they said in the statement. The remaining Euromoney businesses will be majority controlled by Epiris.

London-based Euromoney sells subscriptions to financial professionals and also runs events, a business line which rivals like Informa Plc are seeing bounce back as global pandemic restrictions lift. The Daily Mail & General Trust Plc previously held a large stake before spinning it out in a shareholder distribution in 2019.

Euromoney shareholders will vote to approve the deal at a general meeting. The takeover is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Euromoney rose 8.9% to £14.46 in early London trading on Monday. — Bloomberg