Parent company of Germany’s largest–but ailing–book chain Thalia continues to be the focus of market gyration. First shares fell sharply on reduced earnings guidance, driven by Thalia’s difficulties competing with ebooks and online bookselling and unquantified “restructuring” costs at the bookseller. But then shares soared on news of a possible buyout. CEO Henning Kreke “told analysts at a meeting on Thursday that Douglas had been approached by investors several times in recent years and that the Kreke family, which has a 12.6 percent stake in Douglas, decided to initiate talks over a buyout because it sees the company’s shares as […]
