RBI

So now that the closely-watched auction process for Reed Business is off, what's the post-mortem, and what are the next steps?

The sale process of Reed Business is in its final stages, as one of the two bidders left in the fray, Texas Pacific Group/DLJ combo, has dropped out of the bid, according to reports. This leaves Bain Capital as the only bidder and with a shot to buy it following due diligence.

The CEO of B2B publisher Reed Business Information, Gerard van de Aast, is to step down next month and will relinquish his positions on the boards of both RBI and parent company Reed Elsevier (NYSE: RUK), throwing even more uncertainty on the former's planned divestment from the latter. From December 15, RBI's UK CEO Keith Jones will become acting CEO for the division worldwide "pending resolution of the current divestment process" – whenever that might be.

The CEO of B2B publisher Reed Business Information, Gerard van de Aast, is to step down next month and will relinquish his positions on the boards of both RBI and parent company Reed Elsevier (NYSE: RUK), throwing even more uncertainty on the former's planned divestment from the latter. From December 15, RBI's UK CEO Keith Jones will become acting CEO for the division worldwide "pending resolution of the current divestment process" – whenever that might be.

Reed Elsevier (NYSE: RUK) is unlikely to sell its Reed Business Information (RBI) as a whole entity and must cut its asking price, the former US CEO of the UK-based B2B publishing unit has warned.

We thought it already sweetened the offer once, but now Reed Elsevier (NYSE: RUK) plans to offer a bigger vendor loan to finance the struggling sell-off of its Reed Business Information (RBI) unit.