“Three people familiar with the process” have confirmed to the NYT that parents of the two largest trade publishers in the US — Penguin Random House and HarperCollins — are the two leading bidders for Simon & Schuster at this point. Which is exactly as was expected, since the company will yield greater financial efficiencies if it is acquired by another, larger trade publisher. “At least one of the offers has topped $1.7 billion,” two of the people said to the paper, with final bids due prior to Thanksgiving. If true, that would be a substantial premium over prices for […]
M&A
Penguin Random House Parent Bertelsmann Controls More US Book Printing with Quad Acquisition
Berryville Graphics, a division of Bertelsmann Printing, has acquired the two book manufacturing plants that Quad has been trying to sell for a year now. Berryville has bought the facilities in Fairfield, PA (370,000 square feet) and Martinsburg, WV (380,000 square feet, which focuses on paperbacks). The transaction closed on October 31. It’s a significant expansion for Berryville, which Dun & Bradstreet estimated had sales of about $120 million in 2019. The money-losing Quad book printing business — acquired from World Color, previously known as Quebecor — had annual sales of about $200 million. They sold their big, 1 million-square-foot […]
People, Etc.
At Writers House, Maria Aughavin has been promoted to evp, finance; Albert Araneo moved up to evp, business affairs; and Cecilia de la Campa is now evp, global media & licensing. Jonathan Morris has been promoted to production coordinator at Random House Children’s. Rights At the end of the year Penguin Random House Canada is taking back in-house the sub-rights business that they turned over to The Cooke Agency International in 2009, in “a strategic shift…in order to drive international growth across our publishing.” Adrienne Tang has been hired as vp, subsidiary rights, reporting to ceo Kristin Cochrane. Tang was at Kids Can […]
LSC Sale to Atlas Holdings Wins Court Approval
LSC’s sale to Atlas Holdings has been approved by the bankruptcy court. An affiliate of Atlas Holdings, with support from LSC’s secured creditors, will acquire substantially all of the company’s assets, according to this morning’s press release. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2020, subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. LSC ceo Thomas J. Quinlan III said, “We are confident that through this partnership with Atlas, LSC will be uniquely well-positioned to strengthen and grow our market-leading position and provide our customers with the same high standards of quality, reliability and innovation,” and thanks employees […]
Hollywood Trade Publications Merge In New Joint Venture
The parent company of Variety, Deadline and other trade magazines will take over management of competitor The Hollywood Reporter (as well as Billboard and other publications) as part of two joint ventures announced Wednesday. Penske Media (PMC) will run daily operations of the magazine conglomerate, while their one-time rival MRC will run a separate joint venture to exploit the brands and intellectual property across the two portfolios, “including television, film, live and alternative and nonfiction.” (Update: What was touted as a joint venture turned out to be an acquisition: Penske is reported to be paying $225 million to buy an […]
Corporate: Abrams Acquires Cameron, Bonnier UK Makes Flexible Work Permanent, and More
Abrams has acquired Cameron + Company, a family-owned publisher based in Petaluma, CA, publishing books with a focus on photography, art, food and wine, children’s books, and topics of regional interest. Abrams has distributed the line since early 2018. Cameron + Company will be a separate division under Abrams, with vice president and publisher Chris Gruener reporting to Abrams president and ceo Michael Jacobs. The current staff will remain based in their offices in Northern California. Separately, Hardie Grant has bought out Egmont, their joint venture partner in Hardie Grant Egmont, and will rename their children’s line Hardie Grant Children’s […]