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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, and has offices in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, 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.
The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...
'' 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 is an American publisher of databases, 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, including ...
,
Kansas Broadcasting System,
ITE Group
Hyve Group Limited, formerly ITE Group, is an international organiser of exhibitions and conferences. The Group organises over 30 events and conferences each year and employs over 650 staff in 10 offices worldwide. The company's purpose is to crea ...
, Granada Learning,
CSC Media Group
CSC Media Group Limited, 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 ...
,
Cambium Learning Group
Cambium Learning Group is an American education technology and services company that creates computer software and hardware products serving students ranging from pre-kindergarten to adult. Cambium Learning is a portfolio company of Verit ...
, and
Yellow Book USA. 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 th ...
headed by former
Mirror Group
Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and internet journalism, digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ' ...
chief executive
David Montgomery—to acquire Berliner Verlag, the publisher of German daily newspapers ''
Berliner Zeitung
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (; ) 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 of Germany, reunification. It is published by Berl ...
'' 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 Ja ...
'', among other titles; the acquisition of the company was valued at £53m from the former owners
Holtzbrinck
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a Privately held company, privately held German company headquartered in Stuttgart, that Holding company, owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Big Five English-lan ...
, 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 is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...
'' () and ''
Communications Industry Report
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
'' ().
[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