Scholastic reported earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, ending May 31, with sales of $401 million, rebounding strongly from $284 million a year ago — the first pandemic quarter — up 41% percent. In a release, the company cites “improving market conditions, strong demand for foundational literacy programs and summer reading, and top […]
Finance
Partnerships: Welbeck Expands into Australia with Booktopia
Welbeck Publishing Group has created a standalone subsidiary to publish titles directly into the Australia/New Zealand market, in partnership with online retailer Booktopia, which has a 25 percent stake in the new Sydney-based business in exchange for a $3 million (AU) investment. Booktopia will distribute Welbeck’s 4,500 title backlist in ANZ and will form an […]
Epic Sold to India’s Byju for $500 Million; McEvoy Sells I See Me
Digital reading platform for kids Epic has been sold to India’s most valuable startup Byju for $500 million in cash and stock. (TechCrunch first reported the two parties in sale talks in March.) Epic says its user base includes 2 million teachers and 50 million students, and was fueled by at least $51 million in […]
More On Scholastic: Lucchese to Inherit Robinson’s Controlling Shares
SEC filings further illuminate the bigger story overlooked yesterday: Scholastic executive Iole Lucchese’s ascent to chair of the company’s board, while continuing to serve as evp, chief strategy officer. In early July, the Surrogate’s Court issued preliminary letters appointing Lucchese as executor of the late Richard Robinson’s estate. Furthermore, she is “also expected to be […]
Reese Picks Heller — And Her Company May Get Picked By Buyer
The July pick for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club is Miranda Cowley Heller’s The Paper Palace (featured in both our Buzz Books 2021: Spring/Summer anthology and our January Buzz Books Editors Panel.) Also making news is Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine, said to be have been approached by “multiple suitors” in recent months, the WSJ reports, including […]
Egmont to Buy Bonnier’s Half of Cappelen Damm
Denmark-based Egmont has agreed to buy Bonnier’s half of their jointly-owned publishing house in Norway, Cappelen Damm, for NOK 1 billion ($120 million). The company was formed in 2007 by the merger of Egmont’s Damm and Bonnier’s Cappelen. Cappelen Damm had sales in 2020 of NOK 1.3 billion ($156 million), with pre-tax profit of NOK […]