Alantra advises Sanoma on the acquisition of Vicens Vives in Spain

Apr 2026

Buy-side advisory

Madrid – Alantra has acted as exclusive financial advisor to Sanoma Corporation, a leading European K–12 learning and Finnish media company listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (HEL: SANOMA), on the acquisition of Vicens Vives, a Catalonia-based educational publisher with a strong focus on secondary education.

The transaction has been executed through Santillana España, a leading provider of K–12 educational content and learning solutions in Spain, with a strong position in primary education and a broad portfolio spanning textbooks, digital platforms, and complementary services.

Founded in the 1960s, Vicens Vives is a well-established learning content provider in Spain and represents a highly strategic and complementary addition, given its strong positioning in the secondary education segment. The acquisition is fully aligned with Sanoma’s strategy of pursuing targeted regional add-ons, further strengthening Santillana España’s market position.

Alantra supported Sanoma throughout the entire transaction process, providing end-to-end advisory services, including playing a key role in the final negotiations, helping to deliver a balanced outcome for all stakeholders.

Borja Olaso, Managing Director at Alantra, said: “This transaction highlights Alantra’s ability to originate proprietary opportunities through targeted buy-side programs and deliver successful outcomes via close coordination across teams and geographies, in support of Sanoma’s strategic expansion in the Spanish education sector.”

The transaction underscores Alantra’s ability to deliver fully integrated, end-to-end advisory services across all phases of strategically relevant transactions in Media, including advising our long-standing client Grupo Planeta on a €100mn private placement, Europa Group on the reorganization of its capital structure, the shareholders of Istituto Volta on the sale of the entire share capital to KYIP Capital, and Unigestion on the acquisition financing for the mobility education and training business unit of Springer Nature.