The battle for control of Lagardere enters what may be its final stage, as well-funded Vivendi is taking steps towards a full takeover. Vivendi announced an agreement to buy activist investor Amber Capital’s significant minority stake in Lagardere, paying €24.10 a share for Amber’s block of over 25 million shares, comprising just under 18 percent […]
M&A
Acquisitions: Hachette UK Buys Arcadia
Hachette UK has acquired independent publisher Arcadia Books, which will operate within the MacLehose Press imprint at Quercus. Associate publisher Katharina Bielenberg will take over as publisher at Arcadia. Since the death of founder Gary Pulsifer in 2016, the company has been run by Piers Russell-Cobb at MediaFund. Quercus noted in the announcement: “Arcadia has since […]
Follett School Solutions Acquired By Francisco Partners
Follett Corporation has sold Follett School Solutions, the company’s K-12 software and content division, to tech-focused investment firm Francisco Partners, which owns the K-12 education-focused businesses Renaissance Learning, Discovery Education, Freckle, myON and Mystery Science. Earlier in the year, Francisco bought VitalSource from Ingram Content Group. The terms of the deal were not announced. Follett […]
McGraw Hill to Acquire Achieve3000
McGraw Hill was the winning bidder in the sale of New Jersey-based edtech company Achieve3000. The deal is expected to close within 60 days, and it underscores support for McGraw from their new private equity owners at Platinum Equity. Terms were not disclosed, but earlier in August, sources told PE Hub that Achieve3000 had sales […]
Acquisitions: Vox Acquires PRH’s Punch, CliffsNotes Sold
Vox Media acquired the online magazine about “drinks and drinking culture” Punch from Penguin Random House, to pair with their Eater franchise. Co-founder Talia Baiocchi remains with Punch as editor-in-chief. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt sold CliffsNotes to online learning platform Course Hero. HMH had acquired the line from Wiley in 2012 — which acquired it as […]
Finance: Quarto Owner Keeps Buying; Springer’s PE Co-Owner Solved Their Problem
In a series of purchases this month, Quarto’s controlling shareholder CK Lau and his company 1010 Printing Limited have increased their holdings in the publisher. 1010 Printing acquired another 125,000 shares — giving them just over 37 percent of shares outstanding — and Lau personally acquired another 60,000 shares, holding a little over 4 percent […]