Archives for February 2007

Black Sues Over Book Conrad Black filed a libel suit in Toronto last week against British author Tom Bower and HarperCollins over the book CONRAD & LADY BLACK: Dancing on the Edge. Seeking $11 million in damages, the complaint alleges that “Bower concocted a pre-conceived thesis that the plaintiff is a criminal sociopath who, throughout his whole business career sought to enrich himself, in breach of the law, at the expense of shareholders.” Black and three others are scheduled to go on trial in Chicago next month for a variety of charges involving their conduct as executives of Hollinger. CanWest […]

Judge Favors Toy Chain Over Amazon A New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Toys R Us in their suit against Amazon and severed the 10-year agreement (signed in 2000) between the two companies, allowing the toy retailer to go form its own internet store. (No monetary damages were awarded.) But Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith said the company “strongly disagrees with the judge’s ruling in this case’ and is considering an appeal. MSNBC Greenspan Speaks There is no convention-wide keynote speaker for this year’s BEA (that slot usually was featured at the end of the day Thursday) but […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Joe McGinniss Jr.’s first novel THE DELIVERY MAN, a portrait of today’s […]

Please Note Today is parents’ today and then I’m on the road, so this meal is being served early. We’ll have updates at the PublishersMarketplace.com home page as appropriate later in the day. Similar to this scoop that we posted there last night: It’s Almost Perseus Yesterday evening, after a long day of meetings, Perseus reports that AMS and the creditors committee informed them that they will recommend the Perseus bid to Judge Sontchi for his approval at a hearing scheduled for 11:30 today. (Also scheduled for consideration today is the bid procedures and other elements of the filing related […]

Harcourt — The Next Play The newest entry under this year’s theme of “everything is for sale” is the Harcourt Education business, as owner Reed Elsevier masked a shortfall in analysts’ expectations for their fiscal year-end report by announcing that Harcourt will be sold in the coming year. Harcourt as a whole has turned in weak results for the past two years, with sales for the just-closed fiscal 2006 of 889 million pounds, or $1.739 million, (down from 901 million pounds, or $1.763 million) and operating profit of 121 million pounds, or $237 million, down from 161 million pounds or […]

B&T’s Offer In papers filed with the bankruptcy court Baker & Taylor has officially been designated by the debtors as a “stalking horse bidder,” setting the bar for competitive — and not necessarily directly comparable — offers. The variations come because likely no party will be bidding to acquire AMS in its entirety; the bidders will all come with different visions (and prices) for the particular bones that they want to pick. Baker & Taylor’s offer provides for a purchase price estimated at $76.25 million, according to the revised letter of intent filed with the bankruptcy court. The components provide […]