Blackstone Said to Drop Pursuit of €2.5 Billion Stroeer Deal (1)

Blackstone Inc. is abandoning its pursuit of German media group Stroeer SE & Co., people familiar with the matter said.

The US private equity firm has dropped out of an investor group with I Squared that was exploring a takeover of Stroeer, which has businesses including billboard advertising, the people said.

The I Squared consortium was considering making a roughly €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) offer for Stroeer that would value the company in the mid-€40s per share, Bloomberg News reported this month.

I Squared is now weighing its next move, the people said, asking not to be identified because ...