Michael Cader

Pension Problem Sidelines Smith Deal; Hodder Will Be Sold to Soothe Shareholders WH Smith “Has suspended discussions with Permira pending clarification of the level of any possible offer,” based on the expectation that the company’s massively underfunded pension makes Permira’s original bid of $1.7 billion unsustainable. A Permira spokesperson says they are still talking to pension fund officials and “We intend to revert to the company in due course.” But now disillusioned shareholders — who had bid the stock up when the offer was first made (it fell another 6.5 percent after yesterday’s announcement) — need to be satisfied, and […]

New Hardcover Head for S&S Children’s Suzanne Harper has been named svp and hardcover publisher at Simon & Schuster Children’s, starting July 6, overseeing Atheneum Books for Young Readers (including Richard Jackson Books and Anne Schwartz Books), Margaret K. McElderry Books, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (including Paula Wiseman Books). Harper has been editor-in-chief of Disney Adventures magazine. HBSP in Big Chinese Co-Venture Harvard Business School Press is forming a partnership with The Commercial Press, China’s oldest publishing house, to publish Harvard’s books in Chinese. The ambitious venture aims to translate and publish up to 150 titles […]

NYT Parses Clinton Like Mad What we can we say about the NY Times’ curious trio of Bill Clinton stories — the news article about the book that followed the AP’s embargo buster, the premature review that followed the next day, and today’s mystifying infomercial for orchestrated right-wing reaction that actually covers/promotes Limbaugh and Drudge on page one (itself the third in David Kirkpatrick’s curious trio of articles in which the newspaper tries to manage the political positioning of Clinton during the Kerry campaign) — that you haven’t already thought to yourself? Keeping it brief, let’s try this: Given that […]

Borders Will Accelerate UK Growth As noted regularly in their quarterly reports, international sales are the big growth area for Borders. Even as the company pares back on new superstores in the US, expansion plans in the UK are getting more ambitious. The company announced deals for up to 12 new superstore locations across the UK; five are scheduled to open in the next year, with another seven in negotiation and/or following shortly thereafter. Managing Director Phil Downer tells PN that it’s possible some of the company’s Books etc locations will be converted to BordersExpress stores — following the experimental […]

Good Final Quarter, Good Year at Wiley Wiley reported record full fiscal year results, with sales up 8 percent to $923 million, “driven primarily by the strong second half performances of Professional/Trade in the U.S. and Scientific, Technical, and Medical globally.” In the fourth quarter, sales were up 14 percent from the year before, to $232 million. Professional/Trade increases were attributed mostly to, “Organic growth in key publishing categories,” as “Revenue rebounded solidly in the second half of the year, particularly in the business, architecture, culinary, education, and consumer programs.” CEO William Pesce says in a statement, “We anticipate revenue […]

Please Note No Lunch tomorrow, which is a travel day for me. We’ll be back to our regular schedule (and timing) on Thursday. AMS Still Not Ready to File Advanced Marketing Services announced after the close of the market yesterday that, despite recent changes to management, they still are not ready to file quarterly reports with the government. Once again, they will not file their 10-K for the quarter ending March 31, which means the company has missed four consecutive quarterly reports now. They still expect that the restatement of earnings will result in a reduction of about $10 million […]