The DOJ’s expert economist Dr. Nicholas Hill resumed testifying on Tuesday (and continues again on Wednesday morning), discussing his prediction of harm if the merger goes through and being questioned on the accuracy of his models. Overall, Hill believes that the proposed mitigating factors—mainly the bidding pledge—are “unlikely to affect the anticompetitive effect of the transaction.” Hill’s reasons are built on qualitative evidence in the form of internal PRH and S&S emails. First, already “imprints can and do coordinate” before and during a bid. As an example, an email from the president of a PRH imprint said that bidding against […]
A3: Brian Murray Was “Shocked” By PRH’s Winning Bid
The antitrust trial began Tuesday morning with testimony from another ceo–Brian Murray from HarperCollins. He said that News Corp.’s bid for Simon & Schuster “was not close” to Bertelsmann’s offer and that he was “shocked” that they were willing to pay $2.175 billion. “We’ve probably done five or so acquisitions and tend be very disciplined in our financial modeling, so we could not find a way to have a return at that price.” (We’ll say it one more time: PL has previously reported that people familiar with the same said the underbidder was Vivendi, not HarperCollins.) In his direct examination, […]
New Books Publishing August 9
Kimberla Lawson Roby and Banana Yoshimoto lead this week’s fiction releases, while nonfiction includes new work from Jennette McCurdy, Elliot Ackerman and David Maraniss. Also out this week is Slenderman by Kathleen Hale, excerpted in our Buzz Books 2022: Spring/Summer sampler. 19 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-august-9 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_August_/224018 11 nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-august-9 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_August_/224019 We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming three months through this reference page. But if you want to make sure your key titles are on our radar, now you can use this form to submit brief […]
Court Econ: “I Don’t Really Understand the Intricacies of These Models,” Plus More On Those Anticipated Top Sellers…
In the Monday afternoon session of the A3 antitrust trial, the government’s antitrust economics expert Dr. Nicholas Hill began his testimony — which resumes Tuesday, after the court hears from HarperCollins ceo Brian Murray. He walked everyone through the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, the hypothetical monopsonist test, diversion ratios, second-score auction models, GUPPI analysis and more. The day’s “I am Spartacus moment” came towards, when the ever-direct Judge Pan said: “So not being a Ph.D. in economics, I don’t really understand the intricacies of these models. And I’m wondering if the dispute between the experts is more about the inputs as opposed […]
People 8/8
At Scholastic, Taylor McBroom has joined as marketing manager, picture books, Cartwheel, Acorn & Branches. Previously she was senior marketing associate at Clarion Books.
Passion and Gut Feelings as Weisberg Takes the Stand
The A3 trial continued on Monday with Daniel Petrocelli for PRH requesting the possibility of additional time to argue their case. Closing arguments had been scheduled for August 19 and the government expects to rest at the end of the day Tuesday, running ahead of schedule. But if the trial is running late, Judge Pan will consider allowing testimony to continue through next week and hold closing arguments on Monday August 22. The morning featured another ceo on the stand, Don Weisberg at Macmillan, who continually described publishing as a “business of passion.” He said that the sales department is […]