财经媒体巨头福布斯（Forbes）正在挂牌待沽，据称要价4亿美元，德意志银行（Deutsche Bank）正在搜寻买主。但如果出售，福布斯家族可能只会拿到相对较少的一部分收益。

2006年，一家私募股权公司Elevation Partners收购了拥有《福布斯》（Forbes）杂志和其他资产的家族所有出版公司Forbes Media LLC的少数股股权，这家私募股权公司的合伙人包括摇滚乐队U2前主唱Bono和苹果公司（Apple）前高管弗雷德•安德森。这项交易未披露任何财务信息，但《福布斯》获悉投资总额为2.64亿美元（包括一些后续的小额投资）。而且，这项交易设计为优先股，这意味着如果出售，Elevation将优先收回投资（和分享收益）。

从要价来看，此项规定是最高条款。如果福布斯以4亿美元出售，少数股股东Elevation将获得大部分出售所得。这也不算卑鄙，特别是鉴于Elevation已经将其对福布斯的投资减记了75%以上。

对于Elevation，这将成为它的第二次大赎救。这家公司曾向移动设备制造商Palm投资了4.60亿美元，这原本看来是一大错误，但通过一种复杂的结构——加上惠普（Hewlett-Packard）出乎意料地慷慨收购了Palm——该公司突然之间获得了约2,500万美元的利润。该公司还通过对Facebook和Yelp的较小规模投资获得了大笔收益。

福布斯将是Elevation募集的这唯一一支基金中最后的主要持股，这支19亿美元的基金于2005年封闭。基金还持有约225,000股Yelp股票，价值1,520万美元。截至3月31日，该基金仍盈利，内部回报率为8.41%（假若将出售福布斯全部记入，这一数字将显著提升）。

Elevation的一位发言人拒绝对本文发表评论。

Financial media giant Forbes is on the block for a reported $400 million, with Deutsche Bank (DB) beating the bushes for a buyer. If there is a sale, however, relatively few of the proceeds would go into the Forbes family's pockets.

Back in 2006, a private equity firm called Elevation Partners -- whose partners include rock star Bono and former Apple (AAPL) exec Fred Anderson -- acquired a minority stake in Forbes Media LLC, the family-owned publisher of Forbes magazine and other properties. No financial terms were disclosed, but Fortune has learned that the total investment was $264 million (including some small follow-on investments). Moreover, the deal was structured as preferred stock, meaning that Elevation would get paid back first in the event of a sale (and then share in any gains).

That provision is paramount today, given the asking price. If Forbes sells for $400 million, then minority shareholder Elevation would receive a majority of the proceeds. Not too shabby, particularly given that Elevation had written its Forbes investment down by more than 75%.

For Elevation, this would be its second major save. The firm previously looked to have made a massive mistake by investing $460 million into mobile device maker Palm, but used a sophisticated structure -- plus an unexpectedly generous buyout from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) -- to eek out around a $25 million profit. It also has experienced large gains via smaller investments in both Facebook (FB) and Yelp (YELP).

Forbes would be the last major holding for the only fund Elevation has ever raised, a $1.9 billion vehicle closed in 2005. It also retains around 225,000 shares in Yelp, valued at $15.2 million. As of March 31, the fund was profitable with an 8.41 internal rate of return (a figure that would rise considerably were it to be made whole on Forbes).

An Elevation spokesman declined to comment for this story.