Springer Nature IPO postponed

The planned initial public offering of publisher Springer Nature has been postponed on the eve that trading in shares was expected to begin, "due to market conditions".

The decision was jointly made by the company and shareholders Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and BC Partners.

"Springer Nature and its shareholders will continue to closely evaluate the market environment in general and opportunities regarding an IPO of Springer Nature in the future," a statement from the company said.

Trading in shares had been planned to open on Wednesday 9th May, but the cancellation was announced on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier, Reuters reported that the IPO was likely to be "cheaper and smaller" than the original target, valuing the publisher at €3.2bn, with shares issued at the bottom of the predicted range, at €10.50. Demand falling short is said to have been the rationale for majority owner Holtzbrinck doubling its own initial share order to €200m just ahead of the cancellation.

A banker close to the deal told Reuters that many investors had become cautious after the poor performance of a number of recent European IPOs, including that of Ceva Logistics last week, as well as concerns about rising interest rates.