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Investors to Buy Dun & Bradstreet in $6.9 Billion Deal

177-year old Dun & Bradstreet to be bought by Cannae Holdings, CC Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners in $6.5 billion deal.

Investors to Buy Dun & Bradstreet in $6.9 Billion Deal
(Source: Dun & Bradstreet Twitter Page)

(Bloomberg) -- Dun & Bradstreet Corp., the 177-year-old provider of commercial data, agreed to be bought by an investor group led by CC Capital, Cannea Holdings Inc. and Thomas H. Lee Partners in a transaction valued at $6.9 billion, including debt.

Dun & Bradstreet shareholders will receive $145 in cash for each share, according to a statement on Aug. 8 from the Short Hills, N.J.-based company. That’s 18 percent higher than the latest closing price.

Click here for more details on the deal

Dun & Bradstreet’s directors unanimously approved the transaction, which includes the assumption of $1.5 billion of net debt.

Dun & Bradstreet shares have tumbled from a high of $140.73 in August 2016 and annual profit has more than halved since 2014. William P. Foley II, chairman of Cannae, said the new owners would make Dun & Bradstreet more efficient in “an increasingly data-driven world.”

Upon completion of the takeover, Dun & Bradstreet will become a privately held company.

The deal includes a so-called go-shop period, during which Dun & Bradstreet will have 45 days to solicit, evaluate and potentially enter into negotiations with other potential suitors, according to the statement. If it finds a superior offer, it will have the right to terminate the agreement with the CC Capital consortium.

The deal is expected to close within six months, subject to approval from Dun & Bradstreet shareholders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is advising Dun & Bradstreet on the deal while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is providing legal counsel. The buyer group’s financial advisers are Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Royal Bank of Canada. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is providing legal counsel to the buyer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angus Whitley in Sydney at awhitley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

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