Private equity firms bidding for Informa, the events and exhibitions group, are believed to be close to securing financing for the £3 billion acquisition.

Sources close to the deal told The Times that the bidders, which include Providence Equity Partners and Carlyle Group, had made what they called excellent progress and, although funding had not been finalised, it was close.

Shares in Informa rose 14p, or 3.5 per cent, yesterday to close at 440p amid speculation that, despite concerns about the credit crunch, the deal could be financed. Informa had a market capitalisation yesterday of £1.81 billion.

“This news is positive, as it suggests the odds of a deal happening have increased sharply,” analysts at UBS wrote in a note.

A private equity consortium including Providence and Carlyle made an indicative 506p-a-share offer for the company's stock in July. As well as the shares, the consortium would be expected to assume the company's existing net debt, which stood at £1.2 billion as of June 30, down slightly from £1.24 million at the end of the last fiscal year. Blackstone, another private equity group, has been in talks with Providence and Carlyle about joining forces after Hellman & Friedman, an original consortium member, pulled out.

The private equity bidders are understood to have lined up a syndicate of banks to provide most of the debt for the deal.

Informa's business, which employs more than 10,000 people in more than 40 countries worldwide, includes conferences, training, book and maga-zine publishing and databases. However, although it is considered to be a strong performer, its value has been brought down by a weak media sector. Media stocks generally have come under pressure because of a depressed advertising market, but only a small percentage of Informa's revenue comes from advertising.

There has been concern about Informa's high debt levels after its acquisition of Datamonitor in July last year and the company sought to reassure the market this summer at its interim results presentation that it was trading comfortably within its banking covenants. It said that net debt had decreased by £25.2 million to £1.22 billion, reflecting cashflow of £42.5 million, and added that it had in place a £1.45 billion five-year unsecured bank loan facility.

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