It seems that a number of good journalists and publications are going to waste a lot of energy raking through gossip about the late Dick Robinson and current controlling owner and chair of Scholastic, Iole Lucchese. The pretense is to inform about what might happen next at the venerated children’s publisher: “Now there may be a showdown brewing over billions of dollars in kids’ fare,” Vanity Fair puts it in the teaser for the latest version of the story, appearing in their April issue. But the claim is disingenuous since there is, and has been, no news or updates about […]
Private Equity Firm Veritas to Acquire Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $2.8 Billion
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced on Tuesday morning an agreement to sell the company to investment firm Veritas Capital for $21 a share, with Veritas paying approximately $2.8 billion. (At the end of their third quarter, the company had approximately $317 million in long-term debt.) Bloomberg first reported on the negotiations over the holiday weekend. The board says, “The decision to enter into an agreement with Veritas was the result of a deliberate and thorough strategic review process” that included “discussions with several potential strategic and financial bidders.” The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter. Bloomberg had reported […]
Private Equity Firm Veritas Reportedly Negotiating to Buy Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
After reporting last month that HMH was exploring a sale, Bloomberg now reports that private equity firm Veritas Capital is bidding to take the education publisher private. “A final decision hasn’t been made and other bidders may emerge for the Boston-based company,” the sources are said to have indicated. Veritas bought Cambium Learning Group in 2018 for $900 plus the assumption of debt (and in 2021 refinanced the debt with $2.15 billion from Blackstone).
AAP Supports Publisher Fighting US Mandatory Deposit Requirement
Valancourt Books has been challenging the requirement to deposit two copies of every copyrighted work with the Library of Congress as an unconstitutional taking of private property for a number of years now. Last July Washington, DC District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted summary judgment against the publisher, and Valancourt is appealing the decision. The AAP has just filed an amicus brief with the court in support of Valancourt. They argue Judge Jackson was fundamentally wrong in concluding, “Publishers are not required to make the deposit in order to print books or to sell them; the obligation is a […]
Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Blocking Maryland Library eBook Law, Which Is An “Obstacle” to the Copyright Act
District Court of Maryland Judge Deborah L. Boardman delivered a quick, clear and commanding opinion on Wednesday providing a directive to the state of Maryland and a warning guideline to other state legislatures looking to impose conditions on how publishers choose to exercise their Federally granted copyrights: She imposed a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of Maryland’s law, and said it is likely pre-empted by Federal law. Judge Boardman reaffirmed the supremacy of Congress and its specific actions as well as any inaction: “It is clear from the text and history of the Copyright Act that the balance of rights and […]
Bonnier Books Reports Record Year
Like some other trade publishers, Bonnier Books reported “a record year” for 2021. Sales rose over 13 percent to SEK 6.919 billion ($806 million), “mainly attributable to the publishing business,” which “achieved its most profitable year ever.” Total EBITA for Bonnier Books division was SEK 573 (392) million ($67 million), up 46 percent, “despite significant continued investments in BookBeat and losses from book stores.” They saw a “strong rise in sales of physical books, a trend driven by the children’s literature segment,” particularly in Germany, where the division “achieved its highest ever sales and profits for the second year in […]