By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Amy-Jo Crowley and Emma-Victoria Farr
LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany's Springer Nature is lining up investment banks to manage an initial public offering (IPO) of shares as early as this year, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The company is poised to appoint Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) as global coordinators on the share sale, one of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It has been leaning towards Frankfurt as its preferred listing venue, two other people said.
A deal could value the publisher of science journal Nature and Scientific American at up to 9 billion euros ($9.6 billion), including debt, sources previously told Reuters.
Private equity group BC Partners, which controls 47% of Springer Nature, and the investment banks declined to comment. The company and its majority shareholder Holtzbrinck Publishing Group did not respond to requests for comment.
Springer Nature's IPO preparations come amid a revival in stock listings in Europe on the back of higher stock prices and improving market sentiment.
The performance of new listings has been mixed, however, with Swiss skincare group Galderma and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners soaring on their market debuts, while German perfume retailer Douglas has traded below its issue price.
Springer Nature last planned an IPO in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to postpone its plans.
Reuters reported in February that BC Partners was in the early stages of studying options for its stake in Springer Nature, including a potential IPO of the business.
($1 = 0.9375 euros)