Wiley’s second quarter earnings report comes clean about the weakness of the trade publishing assets they have been trying to sell. The second deal–in which Houghton Mifflin Harcourt bought their culinary line and the CliffsNotes and Webster’s New World Dictionary businesses–yielded just $11 million. Wiley has taken a writedown of “approximately $16 million,” reflecting a reduced value for both the assets bought by HMH as well as the “realizable value” of the grab-bag of other trade books still up for sale, which includes titles on pets, crafts, nautical and general interest. That loss is balanced by a $10 million gain […]
