GERMANY - EQT to make EUR 2.6bn offer for Candover's Springer

Rumours suggest that Barclays, Goldman Sachs and UniCredit may act as underwriters of the debt package.

Originally, Candover and Cinven valued the company's equity at around EUR 1bn, but have since written down their stakes to around one quarter of that value.

As reported in unquote" in March this year, the private equity owners had initially sought to sell a minority 49% stake in the academic publisher, but offers fell well short of the EUR 500m they were hoping to raise. EQT, TPG, Apax and a consortium comprising Providence and Carlyle expressed interested, but are thought to have offered no more than EUR 380m.

In September TPG announced it was abandoning its pursuit of the company, with other bidders soon following suit. The investors subsequently announced they would be willing to consider majority control offers.

It was reported yesterday that strategic buyer Informa Business Media is in talks regarding a potential acquisition of the company.

The publisher is said to carry EUR 1.9bn in debt after paying out around EUR 1bn in dividends to the private equity owners. and thought to be in danger of breaching its banking covenants. Some of the firm's debt reaches maturity at the beginning of 2010, meaning it is urgently in need of refinancing.

Springer was acquired by Candover and Cinven for more than EUR 1bn in 2003. The publisher reports annual turnover of EUR 880m and employs 5,000 staff. The business was founded in 1842 and is based in Berlin.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• DACH
• Exits