Following investor Ron Burkle’s spinoff of Barnes & Noble shares from his various investment funds to individual investors, another block holder in the bookseller announced a reduction in their holdings. Mutual fund company Fidelity said in an SEC filing that as of May 31 their 10 percent stake in BN was reduced to a 1.956 percent share (comprising 1.177 million shares of stock). The larger holding had been revealed in February, and was acquired as of December 31, 2011. BN’s stock has been under continuing downward pressure, probably because of these large sellers over the past few weeks. Shares closed […]
Archives for June 2012
Sainsbury’s Relieves HMV of Anobii
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has taken HMV’s 45 percent stake in ebook social network site Anobii off of their hands for a mighty £1. They are making an additional, unspecified “investment in the future” of Anobii that will provide them a total controlling share of what is “anticipated” as a 64 percent stake. HarperCollins, Penguin and Random House UK will remain as minority partners, presumably with some dilution as the result of Sainsbury’s additional investment. HMV paid $3.25 million for their Anobii holding in early 2011, and recorded a £1 million loss in the most recent year on Anobii and another […]
People, Etc.: McIntosh Named Random House COO
Madeline McIntosh has been named chief operating officer for Random House, effective immediately, reporting to ceo Markus Dohle. She also continues with her duties and responsibilities held in her previous position as president, sales, operations and digital. McIntosh first joined the company in 1994 and, after a brief stint at Amazon, rejoined in 2009. In a statement Dohle said McIntosh “has been, and continues to be, a vital part of the transformation of our organization as we redefine the way our sales and corporate operations support and collaborate with our publishing divisions.” Dohle added: “I believe that the strong position […]
Warner’s TV Unit Buys Alloy Entertainment
Alloy Entertainment has been acquired by Warner Bros. Television Group, purchasing the company from an investor group led by Zelnick Media. Zelnick and their partners took Alloy private in mid-2010 for $126.5 million, with senior management investing in the purchase. So it’s no surprise that Alloy’s top executive Leslie Morgenstern will continue to run the unit. The company is best-known for its television series, including Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, and The Lying Game–all based on books developed by Alloy, and many already produced and distributed by Warner. The purchase price was not disclosed but a “person familiar” with the […]
Ingram Shows What’s Selling Well At Indie Stores; Codex Addresses the “Discovery Gap”
Last Monday’s Publishers Launch BEA conference was a packed day of data, insights and news (like the announcement of Tor’s DRM-free ebookstore) worth sharing, and now we have a chance to catch up a bit. At the PLC site we have posted slides from five of the presentations so far, open to all, and we’ll have some audio on the way later as well. One presentation of widespread interest was Ingram chief content officer Phil Ollila‘s new data–commissioned by Publishers Launch–analyzing how the rise of ebooks affects what is sold in physical bookstores. Ollila’s primary focus was to identify opportunities […]
Bookselling: Blurbs From Booksellers Spurred US Deal For Historical Thriller; Discounting Outlawed on New Books in Israel; and More
The WSJ looks at the publication path of Michael Ennis‘s forthcoming historical thriller debut THE MALICE OF FORTUNE, which Doubleday will release in September. The piece emphasizes how Ennis’ agent, Dan Lazar at Writers House, sent out dozens of copies of the novel (the WSJ said 48, but Lazar clarified to us that it was “over 60”) to booksellers by self-publishing bound galleys, with 23 of those booksellers – including Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan, Tattered Cover’s Sarah Harvey, and Jenn Northington at WORD — responding with enthusiastic blurbs. But equally important is that Ennis’s original draft, at around […]