Edward Snowden must submit proceeds from his memoir Permanent Record and related speaking engagements to the US government, ruled District Judge Liam O’Grady December 17. Judge O’Grady granted the government’s motion for partial summary judgment, ruling that there was no issue of fact in the lawsuit claiming that Snowden had broken his CIA employment contract by not submitting authored works for pre-publication review. “The contractual language of the Secrecy Agreements is unambiguous,” O’Grady wrote in his decision. “Snowden accepted employment and benefits conditioned upon prepublication review obligations.” Snowden had argued that he had failed to participate because, among other concerns, […]
UK’s Book People Is Insolvent, Hopes for Quick Sale
Book People, an online and pop-up bookseller in the UK, has gone into administration (the UK equivalent of bankruptcy protection) with administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers searching for a buyer. Sky News said the firm “had been overseeing an auction of The Book People in recent weeks” — clearly not successful yet, though private equity owners Endless say that a number of “credible” parties expressed interest. None of the company’s 400 employees (the oversized holiday staffing level) are expected to be laid off immediately, but “the longer-term prospects for the business, staff, customers and suppliers will clearly be dependent upon whether a sale can […]
DOJ Ready to Deal on Cengage McGraw-Hill Merger, Sources Say
The DOJ plans to approve the merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill, if the companies agree to divest some overlapping assets, unnamed sources told the NY York Post. “There’s going to be a deal. The parties are doing the work so they understand the package that needs to be offered,” the source said. “Any areas of overlap,” such as business textbooks, “will have to be sold to get Justice’s stamp of approval, sources added.” A representative for the companies declined to comment on the story. According to the companies’ financials, before any divestitures the combined entity would have $3.16 billion in […]
Australian Antitrust Commission Has Some Concerns About Cengage McGraw-Hill Merger
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a 17-page statement of issues regarding the planned merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill, the result of a review begun in September. The report outlines two primary “preliminary concerns”: First, that the merger will result in “higher prices, reduced quality or a more limited product range for students in Australia”; and second, that it will “further reduce the already limited number of major publishers with whom higher education authors can publish their works.” Interested parties have until January 20 to submit comments and information, with a final decision due from the commission March […]
Wiley Earnings Reflect Continued Educational Publishing Decline
Wiley reported Q2 earnings, with total sales for the quarter of $466.2 million, up from $448.6 million — which includes increased sales scope from the zyBooks and Knewton acquisitions. Operating income was $63.4 million, up from $57.5 million. Educational publishing sales were $101.7 million, down from $107.5 million, a decline of 5 percent, despite the boost from the recent acquisitions. Professional learning sales were $76 million, down from from $82.2 million, or 8 percent. It’s unclear exactly how much traditional book publishing declined, however, since the company’s recent decision to combine books with its corporate training business, in a single […]
College Store Trade Group Tells Cengage It Opposes the McGraw-Hill Merger, But Hasn’t Yet Told the DOJ
The College Store Trade Group has expressed opposition to the Cengage/McGraw-Hill merger, according to a letter obtained by the Capitol Forum. Previously, the Trade Group, which represents more than 3,000 college bookstores, had told the DOJ it was neutral on the merger. That position apparently changed when Cengage informed bookstores that it was revising its pricing structure for certain digital-access products. Formerly, bookstores received a 20 percent discount on some products, allowing the bookstores to make a profit while still matching these products’ pricing on the Cengage site. But as of December 14, Cengage no longer will offer stores the […]