STM Advisers LLC Helps Set the Mathematical Association of America’s Publishing on a New Course
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRWEB) December 08, 2017 -- STM Advisers LLC (STMA), the leading financial advisory and consulting firm in scientific and scholarly communications, recently assisted the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in successfully exploring strategic alternatives for its high quality mathematics books and journals publishing programs.
Over a fifteen month collaboration, STMA worked with the MAA to evaluate alternatives for its book and textbook program, as well as for its three mathematics journals and one magazine, The American Mathematical Monthly, Mathematics Magazine, The College Mathematics Journal, and Math Horizons. In the eyes of MAA’s Executive Director, Michael Pearson, both programs, while venerable and prestigious, lacked sufficient scale to have the financial and outreach impact the Association desired.
“We knew we needed to find partners to help us grow the reach of these programs, which are central to our mission, and we had been approached by interested parties,” said Pearson. “But we needed to thoroughly assess and benchmark our program in order to reach a satisfactory conclusion. STMA helped guide us throughout the process, and we learned a lot along the way.”
STMA recognized the value of the MAA’s programs to third parties, and orchestrated separate licensing programs for both elements. This involved STMA’s own examination of the properties and preparing comprehensive offering materials. STMA then confidentially contacted, on the MAA’s behalf, a number of commercial publishers and societies to determine their interest in partnering with the MAA.
“On both the books and the journals fronts, we found strong interest from commercial and not-for-profit publishers alike,” noted Joseph Esposito, one of three partners at STM Advisers who worked on the assignment. “The reputation of the MAA in the mathematics field and the integrity of the publications made a compelling case for partnering with the Association.”
Based on this strong interest, STMA coordinated a carefully controlled bidding procedure, first for the MAA’s journals and magazine, and subsequently for MAA Books. This process resulted in bids from multiple parties for both programs, and after presentations and negotiations a winning partner was selected for each program. The net financial benefit to the MAA will be, over the life of the strategic relationships, more than $10 million.
On September 29th, the American Mathematical Society (the AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America announced an agreement for the AMS to acquire the MAA’s book publishing program. The high-quality mathematics titles and textbooks developed and edited by MAA Press will now be published as an imprint of the AMS Book Program. The agreement includes all existing MAA Press books, as well as a renewable license to continue to publish new books under the MAA Press imprint.
And beginning in January 2018, the MAA journals and magazine will be published in collaboration with Taylor & Francis.
“STM Advisers used their combination of domain expertise in scholarly communications with their transactional know-how to make these deals happen,” commented Pearson. “They understood our business and that of our potential partners, and they were instrumental in guiding us through the process. We’re glad to have had them on our side and are delighted with the outcome.”
About STM Advisers LLC
Joseph Esposito, Michael Clarke, and David Lamb formed STM Advisers in 2015 to marry their in-depth knowledge of scientific, technical, medical and academic communications with the unique capability of completing mergers and acquisitions and financings in this field. They have performed strategy consulting and transactional assignments for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the New England Journal of Medicine/Massachusetts Medical Society, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) among others. STMA is based in New York and Washington DC. More at STMAdvisers.com.
Contacts:
Joseph Esposito, Partner, STM Advisers LLC / espositoj at gmail com / 914-478 0827
Michael Clarke, Partner, STM Advisers LLC / mtclarke at gmail com / 202-545-7250
David Lamb, Partner, STM Advisers LLC / lambdcl at gmail com / 917-515-9630
About the Mathematical Association of America
The Mathematical Association of America is the world’s largest community of mathematicians, students, and enthusiasts. Our mission is to advance the understanding of mathematics and its impact on our world. Learn more at maa.org.
Contacts:
Nissa Hiatt, Media Relations and Marketing Manager, Mathematical Association of America / news at maa dot org
About the American Mathematical Society
Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, today the American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life. Learn more at ams.org.
Contacts: Mike Breen and Annette Emerson
Public Awareness Officers
American Mathematical Society
201 Charles Street
Providence, RI 02904
401-455-4000
David Lamb, STM Advisers LLC, http://stmadvisers.com, +1 9175159630, [email protected]
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