Astorg-led group offers nearly $2 billion for Euromoney

(Reuters) -A group led by French investment firm Astorg Asset Management said on Monday it would offer to buy Euromoney in a deal that could value the British business-to-business information company at 1.66 billion pounds ($1.97 billion).

As part of the offer, Euromoney shareholders would get 1,461 pence in cash for each share held. The offer, which the board of the company has recommended, is a premium of about 10% to its closing share price on Friday, according to Refinitiv data.

Last month, Euromoney had said that the consortium had earlier made four separate cash offers to its board, ranging between 13.50 pounds and 11.75 pounds per Euromoney share.

FTSE-250 listed Euromoney was founded in 1969 by Patrick Sergeant, then City editor of the Daily Mail. Daily Mail & General Trust Plc divested its 49.1% stake in Euromoney in 2019.

Separately, London-based Euromoney, which houses brands like BCA Research, Ned Davis Research and Metal Bulletin, also said third-quarter group revenue grew 52% on the back of steady growth in subscriptions.

($1 = 0.8418 pounds)

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)