: Blackstone close to buying software company Civica for $2.5 billion: WSJ

Blackstone Inc. BX is closing in on an acquisition of software developer Civica for $2.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The seller on the deal is Partners Group Holding AG, another private-equity firm that paid about $1.3 billion for Civica in 2017. The purchase by Blackstone Group could be announced as early as Wednesday, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the firm. Spokespeople from Blackstone and Partners Group did not respond to a MarketWatch request for comment. Bloomberg reported in May that Partners Group hoped to fetch a price of $2 billion for Civica, a London-based information technology service provider in the public-sector arena. Partners Group had tried to sell the company at least two other times, the report said. Blackstone’s stock was down 0.6% in recent trades. The stock has risen nearly 43% in 2023, compared with an 18.1% rise by the S&P 500 SPX.

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