With bids for Simon & Schuster moving on to second rounds, Harper Collins remains an active bidder, the WSJ reports. Private equity company KKR is also among the still-active bidders, multiple sources told PL and the WSJ, with the next bids expected in mid-July. Neither Lagardere nor its new owner Vivendi bid for S&S, people familiar with the sale process told PL. Vivendi was the underbidder behind Penguin Random House during the first sale of the publisher in 2020. While Harper is bidding, ceo Brian Murray had testified last August that their bid in 2020 “was not close” to Bertelsmann’s […]
Pagnamenta Joins Kneerim & Williams to Form New Agency, Calligraph
The Kneerim & Williams Agency and The Zoë Pagnamenta Agency have joined together to form a new literary agency, Calligraph, based in New York and Boston. Katherine Flynn and Zoë Pagnamenta serve as managing partners, joined by Alison MacKeen as partner. Kneerim & Williams co-founder John Taylor (Ike) Williams says in the announcement, “I am thrilled we are uniting with Zoë and her distinguished agency. My late co-founder and friend, Jill Kneerim, and I had long treasured our friendship with Zoë and admired her many successes. My colleagues and I look forward to working with her and her team to […]
That’s Different
Last week we went live with the first phase of a big project to refresh and redesign the look of PublishersMarketplace.com. New for now is the home page, everything that displays or interacts with deals, and the menus at the top and bottom of all pages throughout the site. Also new is a choice of formats for the “screenshot view” that helps people share their deals on social media, adding a “new style” design while preserving a gently updated “classic style” option as well. You will see more new page designs rolling in as they are completed and programmed over […]
European Commission Approves Vivendi’s Purchase of Lagardere After Spinning Off Editis
On Friday, the European Commission formally approved Vivendi’s long-planned acquisition of Lagardere, following the fulfillment of their “commitments” to sell the Editis publishing division, as well as the celebrity magazine Gala. Next, “The Commission will assess the suitability of buyers proposed by Vivendi in the context of a separate buyer approval procedure. Pursuant to the commitments, Vivendi can only implement the acquisition of Lagardère following the Commission’s approval of a suitable purchaser.” In April, Vivendi struck a put option agreement to sell Editis to Czech Republic-based International Media Invest. In March, based on preliminary offers to purchase Editis from multiple […]
Obituary: Richard E. Snyder
Former longtime CEO of Simon & Schuster from 1975 to 1994 Richard E. Snyder, 90, died at home in Los Angeles on June 6. During his tenure at S&S, the company grew to become the largest book publisher in the world for a time. His death was reported by his son, Matthew Snyder. The publisher said in a statement: “Dick Snyder led Simon & Schuster through some of its most storied and eventful years. He built Simon & Schuster into one of the largest and most influential publishing companies in the world, known for headline-making nonfiction, bestselling fiction and timeless […]
Four Indigo Directors Resign; Reisman to Retire In August
Four of the directors at Canadian retailer Indigo have stepped down. One the four, Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa, “indicated that she was resigning as a director because of her loss of confidence in board leadership and because of mistreatment” according to the company’s press release. No reason was given for the resignations of Frank Clegg, Howard Grosfield, or Anne Marie O’Donovan, which leaves the company with seven directors. Additionally, controlling owner Heather Reisman announced that she will retire and step down as executive chair and a director as of August 22. “The time has come for me to retire from […]