Private equity firm Hg is to sell its £52m stake in Argus Media Group to Chairman and CEO Adrian Binks and existing minority investor General Atlantic, with Binks becoming majority owner of the London-based oil news and pricing data provider as a result, according to a report by Reuters.
Hg bought half (25%) of a 50% stake owned by General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, in 2020. General Atlantic first invested in Argus, which saw a 17% increase in revenue in 2023, back in 2016, in a deal valuing the business at around £1bn including debt.
Argus was initially founded as a weekly newsletter called Europe-Oil Prices in 1970 by Jan Nasmyth, an influential oil industry journalist. Binks has led Argus since 1984.
The transaction is expected to close within the next month.
