In a memo to employees on Tuesday, Simon & Schuster president and ceo Jonathan Karp echoed Penguin Random House’s statement that they will fight the Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block the merger of the two houses. “Penguin Random House is determined to fight vigorously to bring this transaction to fruition and we will be doing all we can to help in those efforts,” he wrote. Additionally, “We are committed to working together with PRH to fight this lawsuit.” (The DOJ suit names ViacomCBS as a defendant, alongside Bertelsmann and PRH.) Karp writes, “Notably, DOJ has not alleged that the […]
M&A
DOJ Sues to Block PRH Acquisition of S&S
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division filed suit to block the proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House for $2.175 billion. This time the primary argument is not on behalf of consumers but authors, and authors of “anticipated top-selling books” in particular. Filing in the Washington, DC District Court, the DOJ alleges violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, arguing the acquisition is “likely to substantially lessen competition” for “the acquisition of US publishing rights to books from authors.” That market for “anticipated top-selling books…would be highly concentrated,” the filing argues. “The merger would give […]
Harper UK to Buy Pavilion Books
Harper Collins UK will acquire Pavilion Books, including six of its imprints: Collins & Brown, Pavilion, Portico, Robson, National Trust and Pavilion Children’s. Pavilion owner and publisher Polly Powell will keep two imprints, Batsford and Pitkin, and operate under the name BT Batsford. (That’s the previous name, under which Batsford operated until going into receivership in 1999, with Chrysalis Books buying their assets. Chrysalis became Anova, when then became Pavilion.) The deal is expected to close on November 30. Executive publisher Lisa Milton will oversee Pavilion’s adult non-fiction, which will become part of the HQ and Mills & Boon division. […]
M&A: Bookscan Owner NPD to be Sold to Private Equity Firm
NPD group, owner of Bookscan in the US, announced a deal to be acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. The investor has over $80 billion under management, and recently raised a new $24.4 billion fund. NPD executive ehairman Tod Johnson and CEO Karyn Schoenbart will “retain a minority stake in the business and continue to serve on the NPD board of directors.” The privately-held NPD is estimated by Dun & Bradstreet to have annual sales of approximately $300 million. Johnson says in the announcement, “Both Karyn and I are delighted to have the opportunity to partner as minority […]
OverDrive Acquires TeachingBooks.net
OverDrive Education has acquired TeachingBooks.net, which provides supplemental materials to K-12 schools “to enrich how a book is taught in the classroom,” currently licensed to over 55,000 schools and libraries around the world. The deal enhances the offerings of OverDrive’s Sora app, which provides ebooks and audiobooks to students. The terms of the deal were not announced. OverDrive founder and ceo Steve Potash said, “TeachingBooks has compiled and created one of the most valuable collection of resources for the books that are essential for student reading. OverDrive’s Marketplace, the largest catalog of digital books for student reading programs, combined with […]
Wiley Acquires J&J Editorial
Wiley has acquired J&J Editorial Services, a scholarly publishing services company founded by Jennifer Deyton and Julie Nash in 2008. “Acquiring J&J Editorial underlines our promise to provide our partners with best-in-class solutions, from products and services to specialist expertise, creating more choice in the publishing ecosystem,” Wiley evp & general manager, research Jay Flynn said. “We are very excited to join Wiley,” Deyton said. “This was a strategic decision that was made with two clear and long-standing goals in mind – to help us continue to deliver the high standard of service that our clients expect, while simultaneously providing […]