In the capital-raising arms race among the big Hollywood talent agencies — which have grown into entertainment conglomerates themselves — United Talent Agency sold a minority stake to Investcorp and PSP Investments. Deadline and Variety say they sold approximately 40 percent of the agency, for an estimated $200 million. (When the search for investors was initiated…
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People, Etc.
Priyanka Krishnan, formerly at Harper Voyager, has joined Orbit as editor. Bradley Englert has been promoted to editor. At Penguin Random House Canada, Beth Lockley is promoted to the new position of vp, marketing and communications, overseeing a combined marketing and publicity team and reporting to chief operating officer Robert Wheaton. Longtime executive Tracey Turriff,…
Agent Danielle Smith Accused of Fraud, Lupine Grove Creative Closes
Children’s book literary agent and packager Danielle Smith, founder of Lupine Grove Creative, has reportedly been accused of fraudulent deals with her clients and she has closed her agency. In a post to a private Facebook group (also then shared on Twitter) author Heidi Heilig wrote that “it was discovered a couple of days ago that…
People: Smith Exits Bonnier Zaffre; Transatlantic Agency Expands into US
Mark Smith is stepping down as ceo of Bonnier Zaffre at the end of July and has sold his equity stake. Smith has been with the company since 2014. While Bonnier looks for a successor, executive director of adult publishing Kate Parkin, executive director of children’s publishing Jane Harris, and executive director of sales and marketing James…
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Taneli Ruda has joined Wiley as evp, chief strategy officer, where he will help to define and accelerate the next phase of the company’s growth. Ruda most recently served as head of corporate strategy at Thomson Reuters, with responsibility for defining the company’s portfolio and growth strategies, and driving company-wide M&A. “Taneli is an exceptional…
People, Etc.
After six years of building the Quercus US list, publisher Nathaniel Marunas will leave at the end of June. He says, “The process of building Quercus from scratch has been hugely rewarding, but also utterly consuming. Having poured myself into launching the business and helping it grow, it is time to take a brief sabbatical,…