With $54 million in bank debt and another $13 million short-term loan from major shareholders that’s due in August, Quarto Group needs far more money than it can generate or access. In order to extend their loan for another year, to mid-2021, they need to raise money now or face severe consequences. The latest solution to this long-running intractable problem is that the company plans to recapitalize (and dilute) itself by doubling its share base and offering current shareholders new shares if they kick in 68 pence per share. The offer is designed to raise £13.9 million (of $18.2 million) […]
Archives for January 2020
People, Etc.
In the wake of John Fallon‘s plan to retire as chief executive of Pearson, longtime chief financial officer Coram Williams has read the signs and taken a “comparable role at a company based in Continental Europe.” Williams will leave the company and its board later this year after a transition period, and deputy cfo Sally Johnson will take over his role. Alida Becker will retire from the NYT Book Review, where she has worked for over 30 years as preview editor, on January 25, though she will continue her association as a contributor and columnist. Senior staff editor on the […]
LSC to Close Three More Plants
With Wall Street viewing printer LSC Communications as a zombie, trading at a market cap of about $7 million, the company announced that they are closing three more magazine and catalog printing plants. The closures are positioned as positive and decisive measures that “will strengthen the Company’s manufacturing platform by significantly reducing costs and improving utilization across LSC’s production facilities.” They are closing plants in Strasburg, VA (approximately 385 employees); Glasgow, KY (about 650 employees); and Mattoon, IL (about 750 employees) as “the company continues to focus on manufacturing footprint optimization to align with industry trends.” The closures are expected […]
Pooley’s The Authenticity Project Tops February Library Reads
The Authenticity Project by Claire Pooley was the top pick for February’s Library Reads list. Also on the list are Alexis Schaitkin’s Saint X and Andrew Krivak’s The Bear, which are both excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 Fall/Winter Sampler. The rest of the list: The Girl in White Gloves, by Kerri Maher Golden in Death, by J.D. Robb Mercy House, by Alena Dillon Oona Out of Order, by Margarit Montimore The Other Mrs., by Mary Kubica The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson The Worst Best Man, by Mia Sosa
People, Etc.
Rachel Fershleiser will join Counterpoint Press/Catapult/Soft Skull in early February as associate publisher, executive marketing director. She was senior director of marketing at Knopf. Also in February, Alyson Forbes will join the company as associate publisher, head of sales. She was vp, executive director of marketing strategy at Hachette Book Group. Emma Brodie will join Little, Brown’s Voracious on January 29 as executive editor, reporting to Michael Szczerban. She was previously senior editor for the Morrow Gift line at William Morrow. At Sourcebooks, Meg Gibbons has been promoted to senior editor, Simple Truths. At Doubleday, Nora Grubb and Cara Reilly have […]
AAP October Stat Shot
With full-year NPD Bookscan stats for 2019 now available, the AAP turns back the clock a little with the release of its October StatShot. Overall adult sales in October were $561 million, down from $583 million in 2018 (or $600 million in the original 2018 reporting, continuing the correction trend we have noted throughout 2019). Sales of adult print books were $420 million, down from $442 million in October 2019, with mass market showing the largest decline, also in line with the year’s trends. (The originally reported October adult print numbers were significantly higher, at $458 million.) Children’s saw continued […]