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Barnes & Noble's Market Cap At New Low

by on May 18, 2017 in Bookstores, Finance

Pushed by yesterday's marketwide slump, Barnes & Noble's stock is now trading at levels that the company it's lowest market capitalization in at least a decade, if not longer. This morning shares opened at $7.30 and were down slightly again, for a market cap of about $510 million. The stock had dipped…

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A Vote of Diminishing Confidence from Big Barnes & Noble Investor

by on May 5, 2017 in Finance, Uncategorized

On April 18, shortly before the official naming of Demos Parneros as ceo of Barnes & Noble, the company's second largest investor David Abrams significantly reduced his holdings. Abrams and related companies sold 4.5 million shares of Barnes & Noble's stock at $8.575 a share (and the movement of that big…

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Houghton to Layoff Hundreds of Employees, Take More Charges

by on April 19, 2017 in Finance

As previewed just about a month ago, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt updated investors in an SEC filing on Tuesday on their planned restructuring. Their "organizational design change actions," which will be "substantially complete" by the end of May 2017, are expected to reduce their employee count "by approximately 8 percent to 10…

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Bezos Tells Shareholders and Employees It Will Never Be Day 2

by on April 12, 2017 in Bookstores, Finance

Amazon ceo Jeff Bezos's annual letter to shareholders focuses on particulars of his management philosophy more than anything, but it starts with his answer to a common question: "'Jeff, what does Day 2 look like?'" "That’s a question I just got at our most recent all-hands meeting. I've been reminding…

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Recorded Books Renames Itself RBmedia

by on April 11, 2017 in Audio, Finance

Recorded Books acquired the Audiobooks.com retail platform on December 31, 2016 but has officially "announced" the acquisition on Tuesday. (In turn, the publishing arm of Audiobooks.com now operates as Novel Audio.) Recorded Books has also unveiled a broader rebranding of the parent company as RBmedia going forward. The new "unified brand" will "help…

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Penguin Random House to Acquire Barcelona-Based Ediciones B

by on April 6, 2017 in Finance, International News

Penguin Random House will add to its sprawling Spanish-language publishing program with a deal to acquire Ediciones B in Barcelona from Grupo Zeta. The company says the acquisition "will reinforce PRHGE's cultural preeminence and market share in Spain, Latin America, and across the entire Spanish-speaking world." Ediciones B's imprints also operate in Argentina,…

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International: Quarto Sells Hong Kong Services, Storytel Expands, and More

by on March 24, 2017 in Finance, International News

Following the sale of their ANZ Books & Gifts Direct business earlier this year, Quarto is continuing to slim the non-publishing part of their portfolio. They will sell their 75 percent stake in Hong Kong-based Regent Printing Services to 1010 Printing Group for $7 million (which includes $2.5 million for Quarto's share…

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BN Board Authorizes New Stock Repurchase to Boost Share Price

by on March 16, 2017 in Finance

The Barnes & Noble board has authorized spending up to $50 million to repurchase the retailer's inexpensive shares. While that seems like a modest initiative by most corporate standards, BN stock has been trading near its low point and as of Wednesday, that new authority would have covered roughly 8…

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London Announcements from Storytel, Faber, and More

by on March 13, 2017 in Finance, International News

Sweden's acquisitive Storytel purchased People's Press in Denmark, which publishes about 100 titles a year, as of March 1. They paid approximately $10.7 million. People's Press had 2016 sales of about $14.5 million, and has a backlist of approximately 1,200 titles. Storytel acquired audiobook publisher Kontentan earlier this year, following last year's…

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Rabe Reaffirms Plan to Buy Part of Penguin's Stake, and Bring In Financial Partner

by on March 10, 2017 in Finance

Bertelsmann chief executive Thomas Rabe reiterated in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel the plan for Bertelsmann to buy only part of Pearson's 47 percent stake in Penguin Random House, while looking to a financial partner to buy out the remainder. "I expect we will raise our stake to 70 or…

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