Springer specializes in scientific and professional materials, with roughly 2,000 journals and 8,000 new book titles per year in science, technical and medical, transport and architecture. The Springer eBook collection (SpringerLink) offers more than 50,000 titles, and is expected to merge the Springer Book Archives for a combined list of more than 120,000 by the end of 2012.

Springer has offices in 25 countries worldwide, and was first founded as a bookstore in 1842. A publishing company quickly followed, started by Julius Springer in Berlin. An office in Vienna opened in 1924, followed by New York in 1964 and additional branches in Tokyo, London, Paris and Hong Kong.

In 1999, Bertelsmann acquired a majority share in Springer-Verlag. In 2003, the British financial investors Cinven and Candover acquired Kluwer Academic Publishers (KAP) and BertelsmannSpringer, which were merged in 2004.

In October 2008 Springer acquired BioMed Central, a pioneering open access publisher, which made Springer the world’s largest open access publisher.

In 2009, Springer announced its sale to EQT, a Swedish financial investor, and GIC, the investment vehicle of the government of Singapore.

Key Company Developments in 2012 & 2013

Financial:

Springer’s turnover jumped from 890 million EUR in 2011 to 976 million EUR in 2012.

Ownership, Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization:

According to latest media news, a change in ownership is immienet. After Bertelsmann rejected the sell-off, EQT and GIC are looking to dispose or go public. Bg publishing names such as Reed Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, and Informa are on the list of interested parties, along with private equity firms such as KKR, Carlyle, Providence, BC Partners, and Blackstone. Springer Science+Business's value is estimated to fall between 3 billion EUR and 4 billion EUR.

International:

Despite a growing presence in emerging markets, revenue by country is heavier in Europe and the U.S. Here is the percentage breakdown: Germany/Austria/Switzerland (29%), rest of Europe (23%), North America (24%), Asia Pacific (16%), Latin America (3%), and other parts of the world (4%).

Digital:

Springer announced an expansion of its open access publishing program to include a full open access option for e-books, adding to the SpringerOpenjournals progra, and BioMed Central, the pioneering open access journal portfolio, which it acquired in 2008. Springer has pursued open access more aggressively than any other major commercial STM publisher.

Earlier Developments:

In late 2009, Springer was sold by the private equity group Cinven and Candover to two financial investors, EQT, which is the private equity arm of Sweden’s Wallenberg family, and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) in a deal allegedly worth 2.3 billion EUR. Springer hab been previously reported as struggling under a 2.2 billion EUR net debt (according to the Financial Times).

In 2009, Springer expanded significantly its digital publishing strategies, launching notably AuthorMapper, SpringerExemplar, MyCopy and SpringerImages.

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