Variety was finally sold to Jay Penske, owner of Deadline.com, at a price far below what Reed Elsevier was hoping to fetch when it kicked off the auction seven months ago.
The final price tag was said to be in the $26 million to $28 million range, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations. Initially, Reed Elsevier wanted north of $40 million, but the price seemed to drop as negotiations dragged on and buyers got a closer look at the numbers.
Penske’s purchase is backed by Dan Loeb’s hedge fund, Third Point, which is large shareholder in Yahoo!.
Penske outbid Mark Lasry’s Avenue Capital, which was believed to be in the $24 million range, and Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos., which bid around $20 million.
Penske was trailing Avenue until Reed Elsevier offered to do some seller financing of the deal. The auctions was handled for Reed Elsevier by investment bank Evercore Partners.