The owners of German academic publisher Springer Science +
Business Media have in principle reached an agreement to sell the
company to BC Partners for around EUR3.1 billion ($4.15 billion),
in what marks a surprising U-turn after effectively ruling out such
a step last week.
The owners, buyout funds EQT and Singaporean sovereign-wealth
fund Government of Singapore Investment Corp., could announce the
deal with BC Partners later Tuesday, two people familiar with the
matter said.
The move comes as a surprise as an outright sale to BC Partners
seemed to have failed last week, when EQT and GIC announced they
will "solely focus on the planned initial public offering."
In a similar transaction, EQT sold German cable operator Kabel
BW to John Malone's Liberty Global for more than EUR3 billion
instead of listing the shares on the stock market in 2011. As with
Springer Science this time around, it at the time led a so-called
dual track process for Kabel BW, exploring both an outright sale
and an IPO at the same time.
EQT and GIC, which bought the company in 2009 for about EUR2.3
billion from U.K. firms Candover Investments PLC and Cinven Group
Ltd., have mandated investment banks J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to advise on either selling the
company or floating it.
Springer Science is one of the world's largest publishers of
scientific research journals. It recorded revenue of EUR976 million
in 2012, up nearly 12% from a year earlier.
Write to Eyk Henning at Eyk.Henning@dowjones.com
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