Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
Infogroup, the Omaha-based marketing and business research firm, is in final negotiations to be acquired by CCMP Capital Advisors, a prominent New York equity firm.
Sources close to the negotiations said CCMP submitted the top bid of about $494.7 million, or $8.60 per share. The final offer was lower than what Infogroup officials expected, the sources said.
The stock closed at $7.96 per share, down 21 cents for the day. A sale at $8.60 per share would be a premium of 8 percent.
The 37-year-old company started by Indian immigrant Vinod Gupta employs about 3,000 people worldwide, about half of them in Omaha. Gupta no longer is involved in the day-to-day operation of the company, although he remains the largest shareholder.
CEO Bill Fairfield declined to comment. Last fall, when The World-Herald learned that Infogroup was inviting potential buyers to submit bids, Fairfield said any decision would be made in the shareholders' best interest.
Allison Cole, a spokeswoman for CCMP Capital Advisors, also declined to comment. The company doesn't talk about deals it is considering or hasn't publicly announced, she said.
Among the bidders during the four-month process was Dun & Bradstreet, which is based in New Jersey and, like Infogroup, is a provider of business information.
But, sources said, Dun & Bradstreet withdrew its bid after a change in its leadership Feb. 4, and when that happened the bid amounts dropped, too, from between $9 and $10 per share to between $8.25 and $9.
CCMP has invested in more than 50 private and public companies worldwide including Sidney, Neb., outdoor retailer Cabela's, Quizno's restaurants and other retail, industrial, energy, health care and media and telecommunications firms.
A purchase eventually would be subject to a vote by Infogroup shareholders and to regulatory review. Gupta, who owns 21.4 million shares or about 37 percent of the company, has said he supports selling the company.
CCMP reportedly inserted a provision in the acquisition proposal requiring Gupta's approval of the sale.
Gupta was removed as chairman and resigned as CEO in August 2008 after two minority shareholders, Dolphin Partnership and Cardinal Capital Management, filed a lawsuit alleging that he misspent millions of shareholder dollars for his personal use, including for planes, houses and a yacht.
Gupta has maintained that the expenditures, including for travel involving former President Bill Clinton and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, were business-related and ultimately benefited the company.
Managers for Cardinal Capital declined to comment on the possible sale, and calls to Dolphin Partnership were not returned.
A Little Rock, Ark., analyst who has long followed Infogroup said last August that the company was a prime acquisition candidate.
Carter Malloy of Stephens Inc., an investment banking firm, said this week that he believes CCMP Capital Advisors would maintain Infogroup's current structure.
“It's not the most tax-efficient strategy to chop it up and sell it off,” Malloy said.
CCMP bases all investment decisions on what produces the best value, said Cole, the CCMP spokeswoman.
Infogroup board members are to meet Sunday to approve the transaction, followed by an agreement with CCMP by Tuesday.
Contact the writer:
444-1414, ross.boettcher@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
