Kensington Publishing has acquired sci-fi/fantasy publisher Erewhon Books, which will continue as an imprint of Kensington. Publisher Sarah Guan and her team will stay with the line. (Co-founder Liz Gorinsky left Erewhon in March.) Having recently moved distributed to PGW from Workman, Erewhon’s titles will be taken over by Kensington’s distributor Penguin Random House Publisher Services next year. Kensington CEO Steve Zacharius says in the announcement, “The diverse, high-quality list Erewhon has built and the level of support they’ve been able to offer their authors as a small, but effective and passionate team is impressive. It also very much aligns […]
M&A
Acquisitions: Harper Focus Buys Cider Mill Press
HarperCollins Focus has acquired Cider Mill Press, a publisher of gift books specializing in “cookbooks, elegant wine and spirits projects, humor books, and children’s classics.” Cider Mill Press and children’s imprint Applesauce Press will become imprints under HarperCollins Focus. Cider Mill founder John Whalen Jr. will continue on with the company. John Whalen III joins HarperCollins Focus as vp, publisher of both Cider Mill Press and Applesauce Press. He was previously responsible for all operational oversight of the imprints. Laura Minchew, senior vp, group publisher for HarperCollins Focus Children’s and Gift books will oversee the Cider Mill publishing operations within […]
Gibbs Smith Employees Purchase Second Half of Company
Independent publisher Gibbs Smith is now entirely employee-owned, after workers finalized a deal to purchase the second half of the company on August 31. In 2015, cofounders the late Gibbs and Catherine Smith sold half of the company to employees, and in the new deal the company’s employees purchased Catherine Smith’s 50 percent share via a third-party trustee. “We are excited to fulfill Gibbs and Catherine Smith’s dream of becoming a fully employee-owned company,” ceo Brad Farmer, representing the company’s executive management team, said in a release. “Being 100% ESOP owned is a dynamic change in the company’s status and is […]
Scholastic Acquires Learning Ovations
Scholastic has bought Learning Ovations, the creator of literacy screening and assessment system A2i, for an undisclosed amount. The publisher will integrate Learning Ovations’ staff and technology into Scholastic Education Solutions’ literacy platform. A2i was developed with research from educator Dr. Carol Connor and researchers at Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) and University of California, Irvine. “Carol Connor was a teachers’ teacher, dedicated both to helping every child learn to read – regardless of background, disadvantage or learning challenge – and to supporting teachers with tools that are both deeply rigorous and easy to use,” evp, president Scholastic Education […]
Berkett Details the S&S Bidders
Most of ViacomCBS executive Alex Berkett’s testimony on Monday morning was in closed session. But he confirmed for the record that the final three bidders for Simon & Schuster were PRH, Vivendi and HarperCollins. The other invited bidders in the first round were “another strategic buyer” (e.g. a company in publishing), and a financial buyer, identified as based on “relationships that we had with certain human beings at one of the private equity firms and their background in the publishing business.” (This means, presumably, Richard Sarnoff at KKR). And “there was a very small strategic buyer that had a financial […]
Pearson Sells the Last Part of their K-12 Education Business In South Africa
Pearson has finished the long-running sale of most of their K-12 education businesses around the world, with a deal to sell the South African units to Novus Holding. The total price is £53 million, and Pearson has a 75 percent share of the company. Pearson decided to retain their K-12 education businesses in Australia and English-speaking Canada. The businesses sold since 2021 had provided revenue of £252m, and £22m in adjusted operating profit. Pearson says they “achieved a blended multiple of 14.1x EV/EBITDA 2021” across the various international units sold. That’s much better than they did while unloading the big […]