FRANKFURT (Reuters) – SpringerNature, the publisher of science magazines Nature and Scientific American, has asked JP Morgan (JPM.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) to organize a potential 4-5 billion euro stock market listing next year, people close to the matter said.
The SpringerNature joint venture is 53-percent owned by German publisher Holtzbrinck, with buyout group BC Partners holding the rest.
It was formed in 2015 through the merger of Holtzbrinck’s Macmillan Science and Education unit with BC Partners’ Springer business, which publishes scientific, technical and medical books and journals.
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The creation of SpringerNature was designed to make it easier to compete with the likes of RELX (REL.L) and Wolters Kluwer (WLSNc.AS), as publishers move more and more into digital content and readers increasingly use smartphones and tablets to access information.
BC Partners declined to comment on the listing plan, while Holtzbrinck was not immediately available for comment. The banks also declined to comment.
Springer Nature is considering a capital increase of 700-800 million euros as part of the Frankfurt…