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Info Group attracts bidders: sources

Megan Davies and Jui Chakravorty
NEW YORK
Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:36pm EST

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Info Group (IUSA.O) Inc. (IUSA.O), a business-to-business marketing firm, has attracted first round bids from information companies including Dun & Bradstreet (DNB.N), Acxiom Corp (ACXM.O), and private equity firm Carlyle CYL.UL, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Info Group said in December 2008 it retained boutique advisory firm Evercore (EVR.N) to help evaluate its options. That was prompted by its former CEO and chairman, Vinod Gupta, requesting the company explore its strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company.

Preliminary bids were put in last week, said the two sources and other sources familiar with the situation. Interest came from both private equity firms and rival companies of Info Group, the sources said, who declined to be named because the talks are not public.

One of the two sources and a separate source said that it was possible the business could be sold in parts, rather than as a whole. The two sources said it was unclear whether the company had decided that selling parts of the business is an option.

One of the original two sources cautioned that the company could decide not to sell itself if it wasn't satisfied with the prices offered. It was unclear what the price of the bids were, but one source said at least one bid wasn't at much of a premium to the company's recent stock price.

Shares, which closed at $7.96 on Monday, have more than doubled since December 2008. Shares rose more than 12 percent following news of the bids on Tuesday, and were up 49 cents at $8.45 by early afternoon.

Info Group had a market capitalization of around $450 million at the close of trading on Monday.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Info Group changed its name from infoUSA in June 2008, after expanding internationally.

Evercore also advised Info Group on its $155 million sale of research services firm Macro International in April.

D&B and Carlyle declined comment; Acxiom and Info Group did not return calls made Monday for comment.

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernard Orr)


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