Two-and-a-half months after Liberty Media’s initial offer to purchase Barnes & Noble for $17 a share (or just over $1 billion), the NY Post claims the deal now “looks shaky.” Or it may simply be a delay in the initial timetable, as “a deal failed to materialize last week, which was a preliminary target for a final deal since talks began in May, according to sources.” Drawing on a single, unnamed source, the paper says “at least one private-equity giant this week hired a consulting firm to take a fresh look at B&N’s books in case their deal falls apart.” […]
Archives for August 2011
New York State Says Standard eBooks Are Exempt from Sales Tax
It’s a little technical, but Forbes calls attention to a recent advisory opinion from New York state’s department of taxation and finance that will be of great interest to agency-model publishers and ebook retailers. It is “the tax department’s current position” standard trade ebooks as we know them are exempt from New York state sales tax, and do not qualify as taxable “information services.” The opinion was provided in response to a query from California company that “stores a digitized catalog of electronic books available for sale to customers inside and outside New York through its on-line bookstore.” (But the […]
Facebook Buys Push Pop Press, Kills Their Product
Facebook acquired epublishing technology start-up Push Pop Press for undisclosed terms, but the appeal was clearly not their publishing platform that promised to provide “digital storytelling” tools that would enable anyone to turn text, images and multimedia into an enhanced book app with drag-and-drop ease. “There are no plans” for “building out” that platform or continuing to publish more titles like the Al Gore book-based app Our Choice that the company was created to build, Push Pop’s Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris write on their site. Instead they say “we’re taking our publishing technology and everything we’ve learned and are […]
Simon & Schuster Balances Profit Gain with Sales Drop
CBS reported second quarter earnings after the close of the market on Tuesday, with their Simon & Schuster unit recording a 3 percent decline in sales, down $6 million to $183 million, as both profitability improved, with adjusted OIBDA rising $2 million (or 12 percent) to $19 million, and adjusted operating income rose $2 million to $17 million. CBS said that “strong growth in the sale of more profitable digital content was offset by lower print book sales,” indicating that improved profits were “driven by lower expenses resulting from cost-savings initiatives, as well as the significant increase in more profitable […]
Investors Want McGraw-Hill to Consider Spinning Off Education Group
“Activist” hedge fund Jana Partners has built a modest stake in McGraw-Hill stock over the past two months and is working alongside the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to push the company to consider breaking apart its disparate units, disclosed in an SEC filing yesterday. But their declared position is just 5.2 percent–just enough to generate press and tempt other investors to join their cause. Their filing alone accomplished at least part of that mission–shares opened up over 4 percent in morning trading. In their registration, Jana said it “has had discussions with management relating to, among other things, the business, […]
In Sensible Surprise, Congress Frees Kids’ Books from Lead Law
In the midst of the debt-ceiling debacle, Congress surprised publishers and retailers by taking unexpected action and actually getting something right. The House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) by 421-2 that excludes regular printed children’s books and learning materials from the lead-content testing requirements that are due to take effect August 14. The Senate quickly approved the same measure by voice vote before adjourning, sending the bill on to President Obama for signing into law. The amendment has been three years in the making, and its quick passage was a happy surprise […]