John Wiley & Sons, Inc., a global provider of knowledge and
knowledge-enabled services that improve outcomes in research,
professional practice and education, announced today it has signed a
definitive agreement to acquire Atypon, a Silicon Valley-based
publishing-software company, for $120 million in cash. Atypon (www.atypon.com)
is a trusted technology partner that enables scholarly societies and
publishers to deliver, host, enhance, market and manage their content on
the web. The transaction is expected to close October 1, 2016.
Atypon is privately held and headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, with
approximately 260 employees in the U.S. and EMEA. The company provides
Literatum, an innovative platform that primarily serves the large
scientific, technical, medical and scholarly industry. This
sophisticated software gives publishers direct control over how their
content is displayed, promoted and monetized on the web. The company
generated over $31 million in calendar year 2015 revenue.
Atypon’s valued customers include some of the largest and most
prestigious names in the industry. Literatum hosts nearly 9,000
journals, 13 million journal articles and more than 1,800 publication
web sites for over 1,500 societies and publishers, accounting for a
third of the world’s English-language scholarly journal articles.
Atypon will be managed as a separate business unit while benefiting from
the financial stability and continuity of Wiley’s 209-year-old
organization. The data and plans from each of Atypon’s clients will
remain sequestered and behind firewalls. Clients use Atypon as their
core journal-delivery platform or as a way to supplement end-user
engagement. Wiley will itself become an Atypon customer.
“Wiley is committed to enabling the success of our customers and
partners to advance research, discovery and learning,” said Mark Allin,
President and CEO of Wiley. “Atypon offers an outstanding set of
publishing solutions that can help industry participants like Wiley
drive the discovery of research. We will ensure Atypon’s flexible
platform continues to fully support the research community and industry
partners so they may better serve their own customers.”
Georgios Papadopoulos, Atypon’s founder and CEO, will continue to lead
the business and will report to Mr. Allin. He said: “We have worked hard
with our partners to build the industry’s premier publishing platform
and support the needs of the research community. Atypon is delivering
solid growth and marked its most successful year in 2015, nearly
doubling its staff in two years. With Wiley’s commitment we are very
excited about the many opportunities to accelerate the expansion of
Atypon’s service offerings strengthening the fabric of scholarly
communications, expanding access, readership, and utilization, lowering
operating costs, enabling organizations to create and expand offerings
and products on their own, and building value for all stakeholders.”
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995
This release may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning
the Company's operations, performance, and financial condition. Reliance
should not be placed on forward-looking statements, as actual results
may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. Any
such forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions
and estimates that are inherently subject to uncertainties and
contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, and
are subject to change based on many important factors. Such factors
include, but are not limited to (i) the level of investment in new
technologies and products; (ii) subscriber renewal rates for the
Company's journals; (iii) the financial stability and liquidity of
journal subscription agents; (iv) the consolidation of book wholesalers
and retail accounts; (v) the market position and financial stability of
key online retailers; (vi) the seasonal nature of the Company's
educational business and the impact of the used book market; (vii)
worldwide economic and political conditions; (viii) the Company's
ability to protect its copyrights and other intellectual property
worldwide (ix) the ability of the Company to successfully integrate
acquired operations and realize expected opportunities and (x) other
factors detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation
to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect
subsequent events or circumstances.
About Wiley
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:JWa and JWb) is a global provider of
knowledge and knowledge-enabled services that improve outcomes in areas
of research, professional practice, and education. Through the Research
segment, the Company provides digital and print scientific, technical,
medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database
services, and advertising. The Professional Development segment provides
digital and print books, online assessment and training services, and
test prep and certification. In Education, Wiley provides print and
digital content, and education solutions including online program
management services for higher education institutions and course
management tools for instructors and students. The Company's website can
be accessed at www.wiley.com
About Atypon
Atypon was founded in 1996 with headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, and
offices in Jordan, Greece, the U.K. and elsewhere. Continual investment
in innovation and development talent has helped create world-class
software that allows scholarly societies and related publishers to
quickly and cost-effectively build and revise content sites with their
branding front and center, analyze and respond to usage patterns, manage
user access, enhance content discovery and support marketing and digital
commerce. The company’s tools support varied content types, including
text articles, books, images, video and data, and are mobile-ready.
Atypon is currently rolling out significant enhancements to the
platform. The company also offers clients “dedicated teams” of
developers to tailor the existing look and functionality of the platform.
For John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Investors:
Brian Campbell, 201-748-6874
Brian.campbell@wiley.com
or
Media:
Julia Lampam, +44 (0)1243 770668
jlampam@wiley.com