The Sugar23 Books imprint, first established at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade division, will publish newly-acquired titles in partnership with imprints across the Random House division. Crown president David Drake will be the in-house liaison, with Kevin Doughten taking on the expanded dual role of executive editor, Crown, and nonfiction editorial director, Sugar23 Books. Sugar23 ceo Michael Sugar and editorial director of books Angela Ledgerwood will continue to lead the line from their side. Seven books already under contract will be published in 2022 by Harper Collins, as part of their acquisition of HMH’s trade books.
Finance: HMH Sale Closes, Quarto Owner Keeps Buying, NPD to Merge with IRI
Private equity firm Veritas Capital formally completed their purchase of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, valuing the shares at roughly $2.8 billion. Now a private company again, the shares no longer trade on the NASDAQ. CEO and managing partner of Veritas Ramzi Musallam says in the release: “This acquisition underscores Veritas’ commitment to investing in businesses that leverage technology to make a positive impact, and we see vast opportunity for innovation and impact in the education technology market. We look forward to working with Jack [Lynch] and the leadership team and bringing to bear our expertise in K-12 education as HMH executes […]
Coesfeld to Advance at Bertelsmann; Kelly and Smart Named Co-CEOs at DK
Current DK ceo Carsten Coesfeld continues to move up the ranks at Bertelsmann, leaving the publisher on June 1 to become ceo of Bertelsmann Investments, reporting to Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe. Coesfeld also joins Bertelsmann’s group management committee, which advises and supports the executive board. A grandson of the late Reinhard Mohn, who built Bertelsmann into a media conglomerate, Coesfeld already sits on the Bertelsmann Foundation board, and has been touted in German media as the Mohn family member who “could one day lead the media giant.” Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle said in the announcement, “Under Carsten’s tenure, […]
Court Moves to Make Injunction Blocking Maryland’s Library Lending Law Permanent
The state of Maryland did not file an appeal of District Court of Maryland Judge Deborah L. Boardman’s clear and forceful imposition of a preliminary injunction in February blocking implementation of the state’s library ebook lending law. In that ruling the judge found that the plaintiff AAP “will likely succeed on its claim that [Maryland’s law] is preempted by the Copyright Act.” In a March 28 letter, Judge Boardman ordered the state “to show cause by April 11, 2022, why the preliminary injunction should not be converted to a permanent injunction.” Maryland needs to come up with a new argument […]
Pearson Rejects Revised Apollo Buyout; Shareholders Will Have to Wait for Management’s Promises
Private equity firm Apollo Global’s third offer to buyout Pearson, made on March 28, was “unanimously rejected” by the board, which turned down 884.2 pence per share (or roughly $8.8 billion). The board says the offer “significantly undervalued the Company and its future prospects,” though the stock market has generally disagreed with that assessment: The shares had been trading for between 600 and 650 pence a share for the few months prior to the offer, and have not sustained at the offer levels since late 2018 and early 2019. Share are down about 5 percent today on the news, trading […]
McGuigan Sues Former Foundry Bookkeeper for Fraud
The recent non-binding mediation between former Foundry Media partners Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan failed to result in any resolution to their legal dispute, so their claims and counterclaims return to the court for litigation. (McGuigan originally sued Gendell, alleging criminal embezzlement from Foundry, and Gendell countersued, alleging defamation and unprofessional and abusive behavior.) The most recently revised schedule called for discovery to end June 13, with motions for summary judgment due by July 26. Separately, on Tuesday McGuigan filed a new civil suit on behalf of both himself and Foundry Literary + Media, expanding his original allegations to […]