Source: Cygnus Deal ‘Will Get Done’ in '08

While the U.S. economy saw some relief Monday with the Dow Jones up more than 900 points, the tightening credit markets have put the brakes on a number of big media deals, one being Wasserstein and Co.’s acquisition of Cygnus Business Media—which was said to have been set to close at the end of August.

According to a knowledgeable source, the acquisition talks are still alive but Wasserstein no longer is the only active bidder. While the source declined to say what other private equity players are now in the mix, he said he is “confident something will get done by the end of the year.”

Another source, who is knowledgeable in magazine M&A, says he isn’t surprised. “If their [Wasserstein’s] exclusivity ran out … then the bankers would try to bring in other players,” the source said. “Normally, the bankers go back to other bidders that expressed interest but dropped out at higher prices.”

A Cygnus spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

COMMENTS: 9

Post Comment / Discuss This Story - Info/Rules

Swampland!

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 16:32.

Interpretation: "We'll do anything to sell this thing." My advice would be to drag your feet if you're thinking about buying Cygnus - then offer scraps in the last week of Dec.! But be careful what you ask for - anyone annoucing "something will get done by the end of the year" has swamp land to sell you - evidenced by the CFO himself bailing!

On own terms

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 21:51.

The CFO "bailing" as you call it, is him going out on his terms rather than waiting until a new ownership is in place who with almost 100% certainty have brought in their own people. It is also better evidence that someting IS on the verge of happening rather than not.

Follow the leader!

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 06:24.

Should everyone follow the CFO's lead? Since he's such an inspirational leader?

Swamp Land

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 10:20.

Hey, swamp land can be good if you are into raising alligators and snakes.

Break it up

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 11:48.

These over leveraged buyouts are a waste of time and resources. It'll be interesting to see who gets hung with this one and which of these large companies will be the first to be broken up. Are people being lazy with no one wanting to do the work to break some of these companies up? A lot of marginal pubs have survived too long due to the need to bundle losers with the winners. This just weakens the industry as a whole.

Do you hear yourself think?

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 13:22.

The CFO didn't leave, Abry moved him to another one of their groups in anticipation of the sale. Obviously they didn't want to loose him. How is it jumping ship when you still work for the same people?

That's right...

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:18.

ABRY put the CFO in to watch over Carr and Tony, and their investment in general. I'm surprised they moved him before Cygnus is sold, but I don't know enough details to understand why. But rest assured, he's moved on to a more important investment for them. Cygnus is just a drain on ABRY at this point. I'm sure they're trying to cut their losses ASAP.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:23.

LOL - Call it what you will - he's getting out while the gettin's good!

I like the title

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/20/2008 - 07:14.

I like the title, as it has to be true. If they don't sell in 08, they are in trouble, as they don't have the money to pay the 9 million due in January, and if they don't they'll incur major penalties...which will make it even harder to sell. Never mind the 165 mil in July....

Your name:

E-mail: *

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Subject:

Comment: *

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

What code is in the image?: *