Following reports that started with Bloomberg on Monday, Pearson announced that it will sell the FT Group to Nikkei for £844 million (or about $1.3 billion at current conversion rates). The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter, and does not include the FT’s London property at One Southwark Bridge and Pearson’s 50 percent stake in The Economist Group. (At one point, during the constant speculation on whether Pearson would ever sell the FT, they were said to be looking for closer to £1 billion.) According to reports the FT pension fund has been underfunded, and Pearson acknowledged they expect to contribute “around £90 million” after the […]
Finance
Google Play Growth Continues; Layoffs at Pearson US
Google reported stronger than expected second quarter results after the close of the market on Thursday and shares have spiked as result. The market is focused on improved YouTube ad sales and mobile search business, but we keep a narrower focus on the Google Play store — which is reported in their smallest revenue line, the humble “other revenues.” That segment had sales of $1.704 billion for the quarter, up 17 percent (or almost $250 million) compared to a year ago. The company said the numbers were “driven by substantial growth in Play offset by decline in the hardware sales.” (Chromebooks […]
After Education Spinoff, Barnes & Noble Will Reinstate Dividend
Barnes & Noble announced a final date for the BN Education spinoff — distributing the new stock on August 2 (to BN shareholders of record as of July 27). BNED stock is expected to begin trading on a “when-issued” basis starting July 23 and will convert to regular trading on August 3. More importantly to investors and those concerned with the financial health of Barnes & Noble Inc., the company announced that it will resume paying quarterly dividends after the spinoff. They will pay at the annual rate of 60 cents a share, with the first quarterly record date of August 7. The bookseller had […]
Andersons Get “Definitive Agreement” to Buyout Books-A-Million For $21 Million
Six months after their latest offer to take Books-A-Million private, the controlling Anderson family has reached a deal to buyout shareholders of the country’s second-largest book retailer for approximately $21 million, an improved offer of $3.25 a share. (Previously, they offered $17 million, or $2.75 a share.) Unanimously approved by a special board committee and the directors, the deal offers a 23 percent premium over Monday’s closing trading price of $2.60 a share. A majority of the shareholders outside of the family still need to approve the deal for it to go through. The Andersons currently own just under 58 percent of shares. They […]
Court to Decide If Revised Family Christian Buyout Goes to Creditor Vote
The bankruptcy court is set to hold a hearing today on a new set of proposals from Family Christian Stores to put a revised buyout offer from FCS Acquisition to a vote among the creditors. Their previous bid of $43 million has been increased to a range of between $52.4 million and $55.7 million, according to Family Christian’s lawyers. Sources told Michigan Live that the liquidation companies that participated in the auction — since voided by the court — are no longer participating (and who could blame them, since Family Christian has been working hard since the outset to ensure the […]
RCS Weighing Formal Buyout Offer from Mondadori, As Three Italian Agencies Merge
Catching up on news from last week, Italy’s Mondadori Libri formalized their initial February offer to buy their biggest competitor, RCS Libri. The proposed price was not announced, but the Italian press says the offer was for 135 million euros (after a range of 125 million to 150 million euros had been tipped earlier this year). The RCS board issued a statement saying it “reviewed the offer received” while indicating it “reserved all its rights in regard to evaluating the offer, also taking into account wider considerations regarding the strategic outlook for the group.” For 2014, RCS Libri had sales of 222.6 […]