At the end of last week, a Texas District Court judge rejected shareholders’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking the proposed buyout of Hastings by National Entertainment Collectibles. The court did not find “a substantial likelihood of success on the merits” for the plaintiffs, though this ruling does not block the shareholders’ lawsuit from going forward. It simply denies any expedited discovery, and means the suit will not prevent the merger from going forward. The court recognizes that “a judgment for money damages is a potential post-merger appraisal remedy.” Ruling
Bookstores
Now You See It–Slight Delay In Silkworm Kindle eBook
JK Rowling’s new mystery THE SILKWORM, published under the pen name Robert Galbraith, went on sale today. Amazon is offering the hardcover, lightly discounted by 10 percent and listed as “usually ships in 1 to 2 months.” (That should effectively give lie to the minor blog meme that Hachette Book Group is unable or unwilling to efficiently supply Amazon with inventory.) But early this morning, Amazon still did not have the Kindle format ebook on sale at all. Social media and the Kindle discussion forum started filling with complaints and questions, since Amazon had previously told customers who pre-ordered Hachette Book Group titles when […]
People
Stacy Lellos returns to Scholastic, as svp and general manager overseeing Klutz, reporting to Ellie Berger. Lellos has been vp of marketing at Toys R Us since 2013, prior to which she held a variety of publishing and marketing positions at Scholastic since 2000. Director of marketing and publicity at Soho Press Paul Oliver is launching Syndicate Books this fall as a sideline, focused on out-of-print mysteries and crime fiction. Soho will distribute his line (and they are distributed by Random House), and he aims to publish 5 to 10 titles a year, starting with Ted Lewis’s Get Carter (originally called Jack’s Return […]
Gowda Sells Remaining Books-A-Million Stake
Late Friday Books-A-Million reported to the SEC that it agreed to repurchase the remaining 304,000 common stock shares held by Harsha Gowda at $2.15 a share a day after buying back 655,596 shares for the same per share price. Despite reducing the company’s float by about 6.5 percent, BAMM shares have declined, trading between $2.02 and $2.07 a share. Gowda, who runs BlueShore Global Equity Fund, told us: “I wish Books-a-Million management the best and I see them managing the decline in physical book retail successfully. My sale was primarily to pursue other investments for my Fund.”
Books-A-Million Buys Back Shares From Investor Gowda
Books-A-Million noted in a filing with the SEC on Friday that it has agreed to buy back 655,596 of common stock held by investor Harsha Gowda at a price of $2.15 a share. The company is paying a 3 cent discount off of the trading price from Tuesday though shares opened today at below $2.00. The bookseller’s stock has been very lightly traded recently, with daily volume of under 10,000 shares trading hands. Gowda, who runs BlueShore Global Equity Fund out of Florida (and, originally, New Jersey), first bought a stake in BAMM in December 2011, when he acquired more than […]
Johansen Tops July Indie Next
Erika Johansen’s The Queen of the Tearling is the No. 1 pick on the July Indie Next list. The rest of the recommended titles are listed below. As always, click through for the full bookseller comments. Landline, by Rainbow Rowell One Plus One, by Jojo Moyes That Night, by Chevy Stevens Last Night at the Blue Angel, by Rebecca Rotert The Quick, by Lauren Owen Flying Shoes, by Lisa Howorth The Appetites of Girls, by Pamela Moses Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, by Chris Bohjalian The Glass Kitchen, by Linda Francis Lee Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman Dollbaby, […]