Veronis Suhler Stevenson, known by its initials, VSS, is a private investment firm that invests in the information, business services, healthcare IT, education, media and marketing industries in North America and Europe.
Since 1987, VSS has managed seven private investment funds with aggregate initial capital commitments totaling over $3 billion, including four equity funds and two structured capital funds. To date, VSS funds have invested in 74 platform companies, which have together completed over 330 add-on acquisitions.
VSS has headquarters in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and has offices in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where it operates as Veronis Suhler Stevenson International Ltd.
Corporate history
The company was founded as Veronis, Suhler & Associates (VS&A) in 1981, by
John J. Veronis and
John S. Suhler. Veronis cofounded ''
Psychology Today
''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direct ...
'' magazine and its associated enterprises, and Suhler was a former president of
CBS Publishing Group. Jeffrey T. Stevenson joined the company the following year, and became a named partner in 2001.
Investment and buyout activities
VSS's portfolio of equity and capital funds have been invested in 74 companies, resulting in over 300 add-ons and acquisitions transactions. Current and former platform company investments for VSS include
Infobase Publishing
Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includin ...
,
Kansas Broadcasting System,
ITE Group
Hyve Group plc (), formerly ITE Group, is an international organiser of exhibitions and conferences. The Group organises over 130 trade exhibitions and conferences each year in 14 countries and employs over 1,200 staff in 17 offices worldwide. T ...
, Granada Learning,
CSC Media Group
CSC Media Group, formerly known as Chart Show Channels (CSC), was a British cable television broadcasting company. It was a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. The company dissolved on 27 November 2019.
Background
CSC Media Group was named ...
,
Cambium Learning Group
Cambium Learning Group is an American technology company which creates computer software and hardware products serving students ranging from pre-kindergarten to adult; and enabling educators who help them learn. As of December 2018, it is ow ...
, and
Yellow Book USA
Hibu Inc. (styled hibü), formerly Yellowbook Inc., is a provider of digital marketing and advertising solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses across the US. Hibu’s specialties includes web development and hosting, digital listings and ...
. VSS management of equity and mezzanine investment funds commenced from 1987, and in that year completed some 25 media company deals at a value totalling over . By 2006 VSS investment funds managed commitments over .
In 2005, VSS partnered with
Mecom Group
Mecom Group plc was a newspaper publishing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
Initially, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until 22 December 2008, when it became one of three m ...
—an
investment company
An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under the ...
headed by former
Mirror Group chief executive
David Montgomery—to acquire Berliner Verlag, the publisher of German daily newspapers ''
Berliner Zeitung
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
'' and ''
Berliner Kurier
The ''Berliner Kurier'' is a regional, daily tabloid published by the ''Berliner Verlag GmbH'' for the Berlin metropolitan area in Germany. The paper was owned by M. DuMont Schauberg. and got sold in September 2019 to Holger Friedrichs.
In Jan ...
'', among other titles; the acquisition of the company was valued at £53m from the former owners
Holtzbrinck
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a privately held German company based in Stuttgart which owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies.
In 2015, it me ...
, representing the first foreign takeover of a German daily newspaper.
Media industry publications
In addition to its investment and recapitalization portfolios, VSS also conducts and publishes research data on financing & statistics, forecasts and industry trends for the media, publishing and communications sector. It produces two widely consulted American media industry periodicals, ''
Communications Industry Forecast
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
'' () and ''
Communications Industry Report
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
'' ().
[Greco (2005, pp.98–100,278)]
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
Private equity firms of the United States
Companies based in New York City
Financial services companies established in 1981
Investment companies based in New York City