The publisher of the Guardian and a private equity firm have cashed in £200m of shares in business media firm Ascential. The company, which publishes magazines and owns the Cannes Lions Festival, first floated on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year.
The loss-making Guardian Media Group and Apax today announced they had sold another 80m shares at 250p each, reducing their combined stake from around 60 per cent to 40 per cent. GMG’s stake has been reduced from 22 per cent to 14.9 per cent, making £60m, and Apax’s from 37 per cent to 24.8 per cent.