A Matter of Perspective — Elsevier Acquires Mendeley... or, Mendeley Sells Itself to Elsevier

By Kent Anderson. Confirming earlier speculation, Elsevier has acquired the reference management site Mendeley. Terms were not disclosed, but TechCrunch has estimated the deal to be worth between $69 million and $100 million in total. That’s approximately $30-45 per user. Given revenues that seem to be relatively slight at this point, Elsevier appears to have paid a significant multiple for Mendeley.
From Elsevier’s perspective, the deal is accurately described as, “Elsevier Acquires Mendeley.” However, because Mendeley has been a darling of open access (OA), which inevitably brings with it some anti-Elsevier sentiments, the deal may also be interpreted as, “Mendeley Sold Itself to Elsevier.” Read more...