From: Ann Okerson
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:07:53 -0500

More on the potential sale of Springer Science, from DowJones LBO Wire.
Article findable via search engine.

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Springer Science + Business Explores Sale, IPO, Hires Banks -Sources

10/16/2012| 11:03am US/Eastern

By Jessica Hodgson

LONDON--Springer Science + Business Media, the world's second-largest
publisher of scientific research journals, has hired JPMorgan Chase &
Co. (>> JPMorgan Chase & Co.) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (>> Goldman
Sachs Group, Inc.) to undertake a strategic review in a move which
could see the company being sold or floated, two people familiar with
the matter said Tuesday.

Springer Science + Business, which publishes journals for
mathematicians and scientists, is owned by Swedish private equity
group EQT and the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore,
which bought the company in 2009 from British private equity groups
Cinven and Candover.

EQT and GIC have hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to pursue "strategic
options", the people said, and will look at a range of options
including an initial public offering, a sale and a possible
refinancing. The people stress that the process is at an early stage
and no sale memoranda have yet been sent to interested parties.

EQT didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the process.

The possible sale of Springer Science + Business--which was originally
formed out of a unit of German media giant Bertelsmann which was later
merged with a unit of Dutch publisher Wolters Kluwer NV--raises the
possibility that it could fall back into the hands of Bertelsmann

....

Springer's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortization for 2011--the last period for which published information
was available--were EUR313.3 million, on revenue of EUR875 million,
according to the company's annual report.

Informa PLC (>> Informa PLC), another major information publisher,
based in the U.K., could also bid for Springer, one person said, in a
situation which could reverse previous bid interest in Informa by
Springer itself.

....

Morgan Stanley, in a note published in June, suggested that an
acquisition of Springer by a larger third-party could prompt a wave of
consolidation across the publishing industry which could see Informa
also being acquired.

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