Incisive Media in talks to buy financial publisher Risk Waters for £40m

Incisive Media, the company behind Bloomberg Money magazine, is negotiating to buy Risk Waters, a financial publisher that is twice its size.

Incisive would probably finance the transaction partly through the issue of new equity. The deal is thought to be worth up to £40m and would be classified as a reverse takeover as Incisive's stock market value is just £24m. Incisive suspended trading in its shares on 6 November saying it had "signed exclusive heads of terms in relation to the acquisition of another company", but it has not named its target. Incisive publishes business-to-business titles and titles aimed at consumers, such as Your Mortgage and Investment Week.

Earlier this year, Incisive was in talks to buy Pearson's magazines, which include Investors Chronicle and The Banker. It withdrew its £65m bid after evidence of a downturn in trading at the titles, which remain with Pearson.

Risk Waters is a private business-to-business publisher that grew out of just one magazine, Risk, founded by the chairman and chief executive, Peter Field, in 1987.

The acquisition of the company may help families of victims of the 11 September terrorist attack in the US. The company was hosting a conference on the 106th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Centre. Mr Field was on his way to join the event when the terrorists struck. Risk Waters lost 16 members of staff and 65 delegates at its conference also died. The company set up a fund to help the victims' families and a proportion of company profits are donated to this.

Risk has more than 50 books in print. Its magazines now include Energy Risk, Emerging Markets Investor, Credit, and Operational Risk. In 1991 Risk began its conference and training courses programme. In 1999, the company acquired the financial technology and market data products of Waters Information Services in New York.