Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman is taking advice from law firm King & Wood Mallesons in its bid for Fairfax Media, sources said.
Fairfax told the ASX on Thursday it had received a competing offer from Hellman pitched at $1.225 to $1.25 per share. That comes in higher than a TPG-led bid at $1.20 per share, or $2.76 billion.
While an investment banking adviser has not been formally appointed to tend to Hellman, sources said Goldman Sachs and Citi were well-placed to secure a role.
Fairfax granted both suitors due diligence on Thursday.
Interestingly, Hellman alongside The Blackstone Group owns a controlling stake in e-commerce group Scout24, which is led by Greg Ellis.
He was appointed chief executive of Scout24 after joining in 2014 from Domain's rival REA Group. Ellis led REA for about five years and has more than 20 years of business experience within the digital media industry, according to an online profile.
It's not the first time San Francisco-based Hellman has popped up in an Australian auction.
The firm tried to buy accounting software company MYOB from Archer Capital in 2011, before it was snapped up by Bain Capital, and was also sniffing around Ten Network Holdings in late 2014 at the time Discovery Communications was seeking to buy Ten with Foxtel.
This column understands the Fairfax camp, advised by Macquarie Capital, has also had engagement with the TPG group in recent days.
TPG and its partners include Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
Their offer was lobbed on Monday at 1.20 per share after an earlier bid for parts of the business spurred widespread investor criticism.
An initial $2.2 billion TPG-led bid included Domain, the metropolitan publications –The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Fairfax is the publisher of The Australian Financial Review.
