EQT V and GIC Special Investments, the private equity arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), have agreed to sell Springer Science+Business Media to the private equity firm BC Partners.
The company is being sold for a total enterprise value of around EUR3.3bn including a performance-related component, which allows EQT V to participate further in the development of the company.
EQT V and GIC acquired Springer in 2010 and installed a strong industrial board with media and database experts to support the excellent management team around CEO Derk Haank and the company. Since then, the owners have invested EUR304m and Springer has improved sales by 6.4 per cent p.a. to EUR981m and EBITDA by 12.6 per cent p.a. to EUR341m in 2012.
Marcus Brennecke (pictured), partner at EQT Partners, investment advisor to EQT V, says: “Springer is a leading player in the highly interesting academic publishing market. We are proud to have supported the company’s growth since 2010. The development of Springer’s portfolio towards STM content and the significant investments into the digitalization of its business model provide an excellent basis for Springer’s future success. EQT V announced to focus on the IPO track last Friday, but BC Partners then returned with a revised offer, which reflects a highly attractive valuation. The deal allows EQT V to further participate in the future development of the company. We are convinced that Springer will continue its growth path with BC Partners as their strong new partner.”
Springer sells academic content, primarily journals, databases and books, to academic research libraries and libraries of research-intensive institutions as well as to an increasing number of corporate customers. Since the acquisition, EQT V and GIC have supported the group’s large investments into digital migration.
Derk Haank, CEO of Springer, says: “As a leading STM publisher, Springer is extremely well positioned to benefit from the significant growth trends in scientific publishing such as open access, eBooks and the rapidly growing number of researchers in emerging economies. We are glad that we will have BC Partners at our side when realising this potential.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be closed in August 2013.
