GERMANY – Candover and Cinven in talks with Informa about Springer

Originally, Candover and Cinven only sought to sell a 49% stake in the academic publisher, but offers fell well short of the EUR 500m the backers were planning to raise. Bids were submitted by EQT, with interest reported from TPG, Apax and a consortium of Providence and Carlyle, but failed to raise more than EUR 380m. Since then, Providence and Carlyle have stepped away from the deal, while the other bidders are mulling the acquisition of a majority stake, provided that debt financing can be found.

Acquired by Candover and Cinven for EUR 1.05bn in 2003, the publisher is said to carry EUR 1.9bn in debt, after having paid out EUR 1bn to the private equity backers after recapitalisations. The company is now in danger of breaching covenants.

Springer reported a turnover of EUR 880m with 5,000 employees. It was founded in 1842 and is based in Berlin.

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

• Topics
• Exits
• DACH