BC close to deal for publisher Springer

Private equity firm BC Partners is on the verge of clinching the purchase of German publisher Springer Science for somewhere in excess of 3 billion euros, two persons familiar with the negotiations said yesterday.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Jun 2013, 01:01 BST

BC Partners is the last remaining bidder for the publisher, which Swedish private equity firm EQT and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp have said they want to float on the German stock market while continuing to look for a buyer.

The sources said the owners were no longer sticking to their price of 3.5 billion euros, but BC Partners is not willing to pay more than 3.15 billion.

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BC Partners “absolutely wants Springer Science”, one person said.

BC Partners, Springer Science and its owners all declined to comment.

Springer Science+Business Media publishes 2,200 English-language journals and more than 8,000 new book titles every year across five main fields that include science, business, and transport. Its main competitor is Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier.

The company announced plans last week to sell new shares worth 760 million euros in a public offer to cut debt, plus a possible further 380 million euros worth of existing shares. That plan could be cancelled if an outright sale is agreed.

British private equity investors Candover and Cinven created Springer Science+Business Media in 2004 by merging Dutch group Kluwer Academic Publishers with German firm BertelsmannSpringer.