Springer and Macmillan to merge science publishers

The merger will create a publishing group with around €1.5bn in turnover and 13,000 employees. MSE's owner, the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, will own 53% of the new group, while BC Partners will hold the remaining stake.

The newly formed group plans to extend its operations in the education and learning markets following the transaction.

BC Partners says the two businesses' activities are complementary and merging them will create synergies enabling further investment in product development.

MSE subsidiaries involved in the merger are the Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan and the global businesses of Macmillan Education. Holtzbrinck will continue to own Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan Education US, Macmillan New Ventures, Digital Science and Digital Education.

BC Partners will take three seats on the group's supervisory board.

Previous funding
BC Partners acquired Springer Science from EQT Partners and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) in June 2013 for €3.3bn. EQT had initially announced its intention to float the German media publisher, but sold to BC after the Hamburg-based private equity house posted a revised offer. EQT and GIC were to remain as minority shareholder as part of the transaction.

This was the third time Springer Science had been in private equity hands: EQT acquired the company from Candover and Cinven in 2009 in a buyout valued at €2.3bn. Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC also took a minority stake in the deal, which was financed with a €1bn debt package.

Company
London-based MSE can trace its roots back to 1843 with the founding of Macmillan. The titles Scientific American and Nature were established in 1845 and 1869 respectively. The company supplies scientific and academic books and journals to customers in 120 countries worldwide. It has 5,700 employees.

Founded in 1842, Berlin-headquartered Springer Science+Business Media publishes scientific, technical and medical titles in English, German and Dutch. It also operates BioMed Central, an open-access collection and archive established in 2004. The company generated revenues of €943m in 2013 and employs 8,500 people.

People
Derk Haank will become CEO of the merged company. Ewald Wangenbach, managing partner at BC Partners, will become vice-chairman of the group's supervisory board, along with partners Hans Haderer and Christian Mogge. Stefan von Holtzbrinck is CEO of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group.

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