Elliott Investment Management announced an agreement to acquire the assets and operations of bankrupt stationery retailer Paper Source for approximately $91.5 million, with $40 million of that in cash and the rest in loans. The investor says its purchase will allow Paper Source “to emerge from Chapter 11 with the support of a well-capitalized owner committed to the development and growth of the business.” Paper Source filed for bankruptcy protection abruptly in early March, carrying over $100 million in debt (against gross sales in 2020 of $104 million). The filing was controversial as a number of suppliers complained that Paper […]
M&A
Korea’s Kakao Buys Out Radish and Tapas Media as Naver Closes Wattpad Acquisition
South Korean’s Kakao Entertainment is buying serialized fiction app Radish for $440 million and web comics platform Tapas Media for $510 million. The purchases expand on Kakao’s popular webtoons business, currently focused on Korea and Japan. Kakao was already a minority investor in both companies — reported to own about 13 percent of Radish after helping to lead their $63 million Series A financing, and with a recently-increased stake of 40 percent in Tapas. “We are planning to engage the North American market in earnest through the intellectual property (IP) business” with the two acquisitions, Kakao Entertainment CEO Jinsoo Lee […]
Harper Closes Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Acquisition
HarperCollins formally completed their acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s trade division on Monday. HMH interim president Ed Spade will report to Harper ceo Brian Murray. HMH publisher, adult trade Deb Brody will report to president and publisher of the Morrow Group Liate Stehlik, and HMH Children’s publisher Cat Onder will report to Harper Children’s president and publisher Suzanne Murphy. The company says that “all sales rep, customer support, order processing, and the like will remain the same for the time being.” Murray says in the announcement, “We are happy to welcome HMH Books & Media employees, authors, and illustrators to […]
People, Etc.
At Harper Children’s, Luana Horry and Clarissa Wong have each been promoted to senior editor and Sara Schonfeld is associate editor. Vaishali Nayak is now senior manager, marketing; Katie Dutton moves up to senior marketing associate, school & library marketing; and Shaelyn McDaniel becomes assistant manager, digital marketing. Lena Reilly is promoted to associate publicist; Caitlin Lonning to senior production editor; and Kat Keating to senior digital production editor. In new hires, Erin Hamling has joined as senior production editor (she was previously a development editor at Oxford University Press). At Penguin Random House Audio, Ellen Folan has joined as director […]
People, Etc.
At Sourcebooks, Cristina Arreola has been promoted to marketing manager for Sourcebooks Landmark; Stefani Sloma to associate marketing manager for Sourcebooks Casablanca; and Tiffany Schultz has been promoted to assistant marketing manager, retail marketing & creative services. Pearson board chair Sidney Taurel intends to step down from his positions, no later than the 2022 annual meeting. Separately, former Macmillan executive and current ceo of Guardian Media Group Annette Thomas will join the board October 1. Former longtime book publishing publicity executive Susan Richman died at home in New York City on April 19. Richman worked at houses including Scribner, Warner […]
Ingram Sells VitalSource to Private Equity Firm
Ingram Content Group has an agreement to sell their etextbook platform VitalSource Technologies to Francisco Partners, an investment firm focused on technology businesses. The acquirer says in the announcement it is, “Committed to furthering the VitalSource mission of improving learner outcomes and accelerating our commitment to developing innovative, forward-thinking solutions and platforms that open doors to affordable and impactful learning experiences to students and professionals around the world.” The deal is expected to close this summer. Ingram bought the business in 2006 and has grown it to service 16 million learners worldwide. VitalSource president Kent Freeman says in the announcement, […]