Sourcebooks has sold a 45-percent stake in the company to Penguin Random House, which will serve as “a collaborative investor” in the company. Sourcebooks founder and ceo Dominique Raccah will work directly with PRH US ceo Madeline McIntosh on the collaboration, with McIntosh and PRH’s Nina von Moltke to fill two of the five seats on a newly-created Sourcebooks board of directors. (Raccah, her husband Ray Bennett, and Sourcebooks svp Barbara Briel hold the other seats.) For now there will be “no changes in [Sourcebooks’] leadership, management, publishing autonomy, or entrepreneurial culture,” the joint announcement says, but the two companies […]
M&A
Wiley to Buy Knewton
Just days after the Cengage and McGraw-Hill merger announcement, Wiley announced a deal to buy the assets of ed-tech firm Knewton, in a transaction expected to close by the end of the month. The price was not disclosed — though Knewton was reportedly being offered at a “fire sale” price, with EdSurge saying, “There were other buyers bidding for Knewton’s assets, with the transaction prices discussed in the $10 million range.” One of the first big ed-tech companies, New York-based Knewton had raised over $180 in funding. “No industry analyst we spoke with believes the sale price was anywhere near […]
Acquisitions: PRH Buys Salamandra, Scholastic’s Film Investment, and More
Already the world’s largest Spanish-language publisher, Penguin Random House continues to build on that position with another acquisition, agreeing to acquire Barcelona-based Ediciones Salamandra from Sigrid Kraus and Pedro del Carril. The company has over 500 authors on their list. Kraus will remain as publishing manager, “working closely” with PRH Grupo Editorial ceo Núria Cabutí. PRH ceo Markus Dohle underscores in the announcement, “Penguin Random House strongly believes in the global growth potential of the Spanish-language market, and we very much look forward to bringing Ediciones Salamandra’s authors to an even wider readership.” Pedro del Carril adds: “Of all the […]
McGraw-Hill Education and Cengage Plan to Merge
As the educational publishing market continues to contract, two of the biggest players — McGraw-Hill Education and Cengage Learning — announced plans today for an all-stock cashless merger that would create the second largest provider of textbooks and higher education learning materials in the United States. With the deal expected to close “by early 2020,” it would create a company with $3.16 billion in annual sales — and more than $4.5 billion in long-term debt. (The leader, a shrinking Pearson, had total sales of £4.13 billion in 2018, or about $5.5 billion. Their North American sales were £2.78 billion, or […]
People, Etc.
Joe Davidson is joining Black Dog & Leventhal as editor, starting April 8. Previously he was an editor at Rizzoli. Acquisitions Charleston, SC-based Arcadia Publishing has an agreement to acquire “the significant majority of [the] assets” of New Orleans-based Pelican Publishing, which has a list of over 2,000 titles. The transaction will close in May. Arcadia ceo David Steinberger says in the announcement, “It is a publisher that fits well with Arcadia’s mission, which is to connect people with their past, with their communities and with one another.” Pelican president and publisher Kathleen Calhoun Nettleton, whose family has owned the […]
People, Etc.
Scholastic Trade announced a number of promotions and new hires. Dan Moser has been promoted to director of field sales & special markets; Jarad Waxman to director of library sales, direct & wholesale; Rachel Matson to assistant editor, Cartwheel & Orchard Books; and Jeremy West to coordinator, global licensing, media & brands. In new hires, Hannah Frank has joined Scholastic as assistant manager, social media. She was previously at Penguin Children’s. Meghan Templehof has joined as designer for Klutz. She was previously a freelance designer at Big Duck and Mudpuppy. Abha Dasgupta has joined as designer for Klutz. Previously, she […]