Ulysses Press has acquired health and fitness publisher VeloPress from Outside Interactive. VeloPress will operate as a new imprint under Ulysses.
M&A
Acquisitions: Applewood Books, Barrington Stoke
Arcadia Publishing has acquired Applewood Books, which specializes in “reissuing original versions of historical books” and has a catalog of over 2500 titles. The company previously purchased Applewood’s imprint Commonwealth Editions in 2021. Arcadia ceo Brittain Phillips said in a release, “Applewood’s extraordinary catalog will enhance Arcadia’s ability to deliver on our mission: to connect people with their past, with their communities, and with one another.” Elsewhere, Harper UK has acquired children’s publisher Barrington Stoke, which publishes 40 dyslexia-friendly titles a year. Based in Edinburgh, the imprint will remain autonomous under managing director Alex Beecroft. Harper UK ceo Charlie Redmayne […]
Storytel Acquires Finnish Audiobook Streaming Business
Swedish audiobook company Storytel has acquired the audiobook streaming arm of Finnish bookstore chain Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, which is owned by the Otava Group. Subscribers to the audiobook business, Suomalainen Plus, will be merged into Storytel’s user base. Storytel ceo Johannes Larcher said, “This agreement strengthens Storytel’s position in the vibrant Finnish market and as the Nordic market leader. We are also very pleased to deepen our relationship with the leading Finnish publishing and media owner Otava Ltd, who we had the pleasure of welcoming as a new shareholder in connection with our directed share issue in November.”
Pearson Sells Money-Losing Online Learning Business for Future Consideration
Pearson announced an agreement to sell their international online program management business, Pearson Online Learning Services (POLS), to private equity firm Regent. There is no cash payment; Pearson will receive a portion of the business’s positive adjusted EBITDA over the next six years. The business, which had been pending sale under “strategic review,” lost £26 million pounds ($32 million) on an adjusted operating basis in 2022, on sales of £155 million. (Overall, the business lost £52 million, including restructuring, intangible and finance charges.)
Lagardere Board Approves Radio Spinoff
As Lagardere and Vivendi both take steps to ease the path towards approval of their pending merger by the European Commission, Lagardere’s board has approved a plan floated earlier to preserve the independence of their radio division. The company intends to spin the radio division (comprising Europe 1, Europe 2 and RFM) into a separate, limited-partnership holding company. Arnaud Lagardère would be “indirectly the general partner and personally the managing partner,” and he “would be solely responsible for supervising the managers and teams of the radio division and would be the ultimate decision-maker on editorial policy.” There had been longstanding […]
New Strategy: Vivendi Will Sell Editis Outright
Vivendi announced it is abandoning its plan to spin off publishing company Editis into an independent, publicly traded company, and instead they are negotiating to sell the division outright. Vivendi “received several offers for the sale of 100 percent of the shares of Editis,” and has “decided to enter into exclusive negotiations” with International Media Invest (IMI), a subsidiary of billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s Czech Media Invest (which owns a number of prominent French magazines). Kretinsky’s portfolio also includes stakes in the newspaper Le Monde and the TV group TF1. The sale of Editis is designed to win approval from regulators […]