Informa in takeover talks with Springer Science - report

LONDON (Reuters) - Media and events group Informa has held early stage talks with its rival Springer Science and Business Media over buying the German academic publisher, the Financial Times said.

Informa, which is considering a cash bid, initiated talks with Springer three weeks ago, according to people close to the situation, the newspaper added.

Springer, owned by private equity firms Candover and Cinven , said last month that it was considering a full sale of the company.

Informa, Candover and Cinven were unavailable for comment.

Candover and Cinven have been looking for up to 500 million euros (450 million pounds) for the sale of a minority stake in the business but initial bids fell short of their expectations earlier this year.

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Progress on the sale has been slow, after private equity firms TPG and EQT, as well as a consortium of Carlyle and Providence, resubmitted second-round offers for 49 percent of Springer in mid-July.

(Reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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