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ICSTI: EU clears Bertlesmann-Springer acquisition.

• To: Multiple recipients of list <epc-l@iucr.org>
• Subject: ICSTI: EU clears Bertlesmann-Springer acquisition.
• From: Pete Strickland <ps@iucr.org>
• Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 08:50:27 +0100 (BST)

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From: Barry Mahon <mahons1@EIRCOM.NET>
Subject: EU clears Bertlesmann-Springer acquisition.
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Conditional clearance for acquisition of joint control by Candover and 
Cinven of
German publisher BertelsmannSpringer

The European Commission has authorised the acquisition of joint 
control by the
investment companies Candover and Cinven of the German based academic
and professional publisher BertelsmannSpringer. The transaction will 
lead to a
combination of BertelsmannSpringer and the Dutch publisher Kluwer 
Academic
Publishers acquired by Candover and Cinven in 2002. It will also 
combine
BertelmannSpringer's business with the French professional publisher
MediMedia, co-controlled by Cinven. The Commission found that the 
transaction
would raise competition concerns in the market for professional 
medical
publishing in France. Candover and Cinven successfully resolved these 
concerns
by offering commitments.

Both BertelsmannSpringer and Kluwer Academic Publishers are active in 
the
global market for academic publishing with a special focus on 
scientific, technical
and medical (“STM”) journals, nearly exclusively published in English 
language.
This market deals with the access to the latest developments in 
academic
research. It exhibits some specific features: A main feature is the 
“must have”
characteristic of certain journals. Universities depend on the 
information provided
in such journals and cannot afford to cancel subscriptions without 
loosing access
to the most recent issues discussed in the academic community. A 
further feature
of the market are considerable annual price rises for more than a 
decade.

The combined BertelsmannSpringer and Kluwer Academic Publishers will 
be the
number two player in the market - lagging far behind the market leader 
Elsevier
Science. Given the heterogeneity of journals and books published in 
different
scientific disciplines and the heterogeneous nature of these books and 
journals
even if published within a discipline, the Commission found no 
indications for a
collective dominant position of Elsevier Science and the new entity 
resulting from
the merger.

BertelsmannSpringer and MediMedia are both active in the French and 
German
markets for professional medical publishing. These markets comprise
newspapers, magazines, drug directories mainly addressed to doctors 
and
financed by advertising. Whereas the transaction did not raise 
competition
concerns for the German market, the Commission's investigation showed 
that the
operation would lead to a dominant position on the French market. 
Candover and
Cinven removed these competition concerns by offering to divest
BertelsmannSpringer's French business in the market for professional 
medical
publishing, known under the name “Groupe Impact Médicine”.



-------------------------------------------------------

-- 

Best wishes

Peter Strickland
Managing Editor
IUCr Journals

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