Tomorrow the chain opens new stores in Marietta, GA and Salem, OR. Last week they opened their new store in Cheyenne, WY.
Simon & Schuster Officially Sold to KKR
After the close of the market on Monday, Simon & Schuster confirmed the completion of their sale to KKR for $1.62 billion. S&S ceo Jonathan Karp wrote to employees: “I believe our relationship with KKR will enable us to become an even greater version of what we already are: a company that strives for–and succeeds at–attracting and keeping a roster of the most talented authors, with a workforce of dedicated and highly motivated professionals; a pre-eminent publisher, for all kinds of readers, in all formats; a company that takes risks, seizes opportunities and cherishes innovation in its publishing and business […]
Refreshing
We have been working away on the big PublishersMarketplace.com redesign since June and over the weekend we went live with some of the biggest and best improvements yet. Everything Dealmakers, from individual pages to the hundreds of customizable lists, now has a new look. Each Dealmaker page features an enhanced “info box” on the left; simplified deal metadata; visualizations of Notable Titles; and color charts to track — and click through to — deals across our sub-categories. That “info box” will now show a picture or logo when available, along with a brief bio. For people who have a posted […]
Gendell and McGuigan Agree to Payment of Some Commissions
There has been one modest point of agreement in the long-running legal disputes between former Foundry Media Partners Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan. The parties agreed on the least contentious issue before the court: Payment to McGuigan of almost $500,000 in commissions earned from 2020 through 2023. Additional commissions of almost $200,000 from 2016 to 2019 are still in dispute, as are the larger claims and counter-claims between the two. The court has scheduled an evidentiary hearing on December 20 regarding the period still in dispute, and to assess damages, if any, for the failure to previously approve those […]
Firebrand Launches Two New Products
Firebrand Technologies announced the coming launch of two new products for publishers. Firebrand Flywheel uses a recommendation engine to “strategically select” and then execute titles for timely metadata enhancement. They will start onboarding clients in January. Title Management Lite, also available in January, is a simplified version of their core enterprise service, focused on smaller publishers “with fewer needs.” It still “includes the most important features your team needs to track workflows, manage schedules, and collect and distribute your data,” and is upgradeable to their Enterprise version.
With Its Stock Languishing, Endeavor Awaits Proposal From Controlling Shareholder Silver Lake to Go Private Again
It took Endeavor multiple attempts before they executed their 2021 public offering, at a modest $24 a share, though private equity company Silver Lake retained a dominant and controlling stake. But the market has been unimpressed, particularly as Endeavor pushed through a merger between their Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment. The stock went from a high of nearly $35 a share at the end of 2022 to less than $18 a share earlier this week. Which led to Endeavor’s announcement Wednesday afternoon that it would explore a sale or sales: “Given the continued dislocation between Endeavor’s public market […]