EQT and GIC Special Investments have agreed to sell Springer Science+Business Media, a scientific, technical and medical publisher, to BC Partners for €3.3 billion. Springer had sales in 2012 of €981 million and EBITDA of €341 million. EQT and GIC acquired Springer in February 2010. The sale of Springer to BC Partners is expected to close in August 2013.
Springer sells academic content, primarily journals, databases and books, to academic research libraries and libraries of research-intensive institutions, as well as to corporate customers. Springer published approximately 2,200 English-language journals and more than 8,000 new books in 2012, and the company is home to the world’s largest scientific, technical and medical (STM) eBook collection. The company was founded in 1842 and employs more than 7,000 individuals. Springer is headquartered in Luxembourg (www.springer.com).
“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 scientific, technical and medical content and the significant investments into the digitalization of its business model provide an excellent basis for Springer’s future success,” said Marcus Brennecke, Partner at EQT Partners.
EQT Partners pursues medium sized companies in Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, China and the US. The firm is based in Stockholm with other offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Frankfurt, Munich, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Warsaw (www.eqt.dk).
GIC Special Investments is the private equity arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. GIC invests internationally in equities, fixed income, money-market instruments, real estate and private equity. GIC was founded in 1981 and is based in Singapore (www.gic.com.sg/en).
“As a leading scientific, technical and medical 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 realizing this potential,” said Derk Haank, CEO of Springer.
BC Partners has $16.4 billion of capital under management and invests in companies in a variety of sectors that have significant European operations. The firm has offices in London, Hamburg, Milan, New York and Paris (www.bcpartners.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-19-13
