Is should not really be a surprise that Astraeus is for sale, it was financed by a Private Equity group in 2002, and they typically look for an exit after 3-5 years (there are exceptions) that exit is normally by means of a trade sale, a flotation on the Stock Exchange, or sale to another Private Equity group.
When it comes to the value of the deal, you cannot rely on headline figures quoted in the Press either. A hypothetical deal might be Purchase for £50 million, take £10million in dividends over 5 years, refinance company with debt of £80million, pay special dividend to shareholders of £80million, sell business for £20million.
The headline figures look awful for the investors - bought for £50 million sold for £20million therefore losing £30million !
Look at the company accounts over the past few years and you see that the investors put in £50million and took out £10 + £80 + £20 million, = £110million - a £60 million profit.
Just had a look at Companies House wesite and the last accounts were up to Oct 04, next are not due until the end of this September (06) so I can't be nosy and see what (if indeed anything) has been done in the way of geting cash out of the company before a float or trade sale. (OCT 04 would have been way too soon)