🎙️ New Episode Alert: Midnight at the Casablanca🎙️
On the show today, I’m pleased to welcome Silverchair’s CEO Will Schweitzer.
Will’s journey into the world of scholarly publishing began in a serendipitous way, starting with a summer internship at Lippincott Williams & Wilkins that subsequently led him through a series of roles over the next 15 years at the American Psychological Association, Sage, and AAAS.
In 2019, Will made the fortuitous decision to shift into a more technology focused role and join Silverchair, one of the most widely used online platforms in the scholarly publishing market.
When Silverchair was acquired by the private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners in 2022, Will was given the opportunity to step into the role of President and eventually CEO, taking the reins from Silverchair’s founder and longtime CEO Thane Kerner.
Only a short time ago it was announced that Silverchair had acquired the ScholarOne peer review platform from Clarivate, solidifying Silverchair’s role as the leading provider of the critical online platforms and workflow tools that scholarly publishers have come to rely on.
Join us as we discuss Will’s career journey through the scholarly publishing industry, his experience leading Silverchair as it transitioned to PE ownership for the first time, his motivation and aspirations for the ScholarOne acquisition, as well as his thoughts on the challenges, opportunities, and market dynamics that will shape the scholarly publishing landscape in the years ahead.
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A few weeks ago, Paul Peters invited me onto his "Midnight at the Casablanca" podcast.
I hesitated. What could I tell that would be of relevance to listeners of Paul's podcast? Yes, here at Park 56 my colleagues, Koen Gulen and Martijn Roelandse and I have done deals in the academic space, but also in other areas and as a trusted advisor to companies in the media & technology industry, I actually prefer to operate discreetly and play a role behind the scenes. This allows clients to take me into their confidence and being most effective for them. Banging the drums in mergers and acquisitions conversations is not productive; these conversations are not about us, but about the future of the company and its staff, so they need to be approached with great care and professionalism and with an open eye for the interests of all stakeholders.
Paul assured me that his audience would be thrilled to hear more about M&A in general, and the recent history of Springer specifically, from someone who, at the time, sat at the table and was involved in the decision-making process — how Britney Spears, unexpectedly, set the consolidation in academic publishing in motion, the merger between Kluwer Academic Publishing and BertelsmannSpringer now 20 years ago, the lukewarm, initial, response from the market to the acquisition of BioMedCentral in 2008 which turned out to be a massive success, the different rounds of private equity and the impact of the credit crisis, up to the merger with Macmillan Science & Education leading to Springer Nature in 2015 and how we dealt with cultural differences.
I am not sure if anyone will really be "thrilled", but I hope there may be a few new insights and some useful lessons for you as listener.
Thanks for having me on the show, Paul!
🎙️ New Episode Alert: Midnight at the Casablanca🎙️
This past month has been a wild ride in the world of scholarly publishing, with both Springer Nature’s IPO and Silverchair’s acquisition of ScholarOne leaving their mark on this industry’s corporate landscape. I can think of no one better to join me for a conversation about some of the most significant corporate transactions in scholarly publishing over the past 20 years than today’s guest Milan Wielinga.
After spending the first 10 years of his career advising technology and media companies on IPOs and M&A at one of Europe’s leading investment banks, Milan came into the world of scholarly publishing in 2005 as Springer’s EVP for Mergers and Acquisitions.
In the decade that followed, Milan played a pivotal role in Springer’s acquisition of BioMed Central, the sale of Springer to new private equity owners in both 2009 and 2013, as well as the merger between Springer and Macmillan Science and Education in 2015 that resulted in the formation of Springer Nature.
After leaving Springer Nature in 2020, Milan joined forces with two former colleagues to launch Park 56, a boutique advisory firm that has been involved in nearly 20 acquisitions and investments within its first few years, including the sale of PeerJ to Taylor and Francis, Springer’s acquisition of both Atlantis Press and Slimmer AI, and De Gruyter’s acquisition of Ubiquity Press as well as its merger with Brill.
Join us as Milan shares his unique journey into scholarly publishing, offers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most significant corporate transactions the industry has seen over the past 20 years, and provides his insights about what founders should expect when preparing to sell their business.
🎧 As always, you’re invited to join us on your podcast player of choice:
👉 Online: https://lnkd.in/d_z3KBua
👉 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dEVcgEnf
👉 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/d94E5sm8
👉 RSS: https://lnkd.in/d75xbJ_E
🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe to receive new episodes as soon as they’re released!