The drawn out battle to buy RR Donnelly appears to be over, as the company announced that the unidentified “strategic party” has withdrawn its higher bid of $11.50 a share. That leaves the company headed for shareholder approval of the $10.85 a share deal from Chatham Asset Management. The strategic party “did not provide specific […]
M&A
M&A: Hachette Livre Buys Out Bragelonne; Toon to Astra; Infosec to Cengage
Hachette Livre has acquired the remaining shares of genre publisher Bragelonne and Bragelonne Games, building on their minority investment from 2019. The terms of the deal were not announced. Founded in 2000, Bragelonne has a catalog of over 4,000 titles — including Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books. Hachette will make Bragelonne part of their illustrated division, […]
Pearson Acquires Credly
Pearson has acquired Credly, a digital workforce certification company valued at approximately $200 million. Pearson already had a 20 percent stake in the company, and used available cash and liquidity to purchase the remainder, paying $140 million and a deferred consideration. Credly will be part of Pearson’s Workforce Skills division, following their 2021 acquisition of […]
RR Donnelly Is Still In Play
The slow but persistent battle over who will buy RR Donnelly continues. The unidentified strategic buyer has increased its bid to $11.50 a share after completing its due diligence — but they still need until February 8 to finalize their financing. In the meantime, Donnelly is moving forward with their latest formal agreement, in which […]
Follett Book Fairs Sold to Literati
After saying they would exit their unprofitable school book fair business as of last November, Follett School Solutions has now announced the sale of that business to book subscription business Literati. According to the release, “Literati will inherit the Follett Book Fair infrastructure, including book inventory, distribution centers, and key members of the executive, sales […]
Acquisitions: Paperblanks to Hachette UK
Hachette UK has acquired notebook publisher Paperblanks. The terms of the deal were not announced. Paperblanks, which is headquartered in Dublin and has co-branding partnerships with the Getty Museum and New York Public Library, will operate as a standalone business under Hachette UK, reporting to deputy group ceo Richard Kitson. Paperblanks founder and ceo Victor […]