BC's Springer Nature to begin sale of road safety assets in 2022

Patrick Costello , Johannes Koch and Joao Grando
20 December 2021

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Springer Nature, a German publisher backed by sponsor BC Partners, is expected to launch a sale of its road safety information and education assets in 2022, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

DC Advisory has been appointed to run the auction, the first two sources said. A process could kick off as early as Q1, two of the sources said.

Springer's road safety assets may generate up to EUR 20m in EBITDA, two sources said. However, the marketed EBITDA figure is more likely to range between EUR 10m and EUR 15m, one source noted.

Springer Nature's road safety assets are housed in the company's professional businesses division that focuses on education materials for European professionals in the fields of logistics, passenger traffic and car fleets.

The brands that form part of Springer's road-safety unit include Munich-based Springer Fachmedien titles Vogel System, with driving school education materials; Verlag Heinrich Vogel, with education materials for transport, logistics and the tourism sector; and Springer Automotive Media, with digital products for the automotive industry and fleet management professionals.

BC Partners announced in June that it extended its investment in Springer Nature Group from Fund IX into a continuation fund led by Neuberger Berman. The single-asset fund attracted more than EUR 1bn in investment to support continued growth and value creation for Springer Nature, BC Partners said at the time.

In the fall of 2020, BC Partners reportedly delayed plans to list around EUR 1bn's worth of shares in Springer Nature on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange due to market conditions. The listing would have implied a EUR 7bn valuation for the German publisher.

BC Partners acquired Springer Science + Business Media, with its academic reports, journals, specialist information and education services, in 2013 at a valuation of more than EUR 4.5bn. The sponsor merged it with the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group's Macmillan Science and Education (MSE) in 2015 to form Springer Nature.

Springer Nature, BC Partners and DC Advisory declined to comment.