It has been another busy year of mergers and acquisitions in the publishing space, though not with the same volume that we saw in 2014. But there have been billions of dollars of transactions already, with no shortage of deals of scale — including the sales of OverDrive and Scholastic’s educational technology and services business, along with Donnelley’s winning bid for Courier and the not-yet-revealed but surely sizable sum for Pearson’s Family Education Network, topped in value by the quiet, cashless merger of Macmillan Science and Education and Springer Science. The formal Mondadori offer we report on today to buy […]
Finance
Boire Named Barnes & Noble CEO; Carey Promoted to COO
Barnes & Noble has appointed Ronald D. Boire, currently president & chief executive officer of Sears Canada, as ceo of its retail business, effective September 8. Boire will succeed Michael Huseby who — as announced last week — will become executive chairman of Barnes & Noble Education once the company is formally spun off as a separate public company. Boire, who earlier served as evp, global merchandise manager for Best Buy, is expected to join the board of directors for the retail division. Huseby remains on the board of BN, Inc. until the split, after which Education will have its own separate […]
A Price for BN Education
On Monday Barnes & Noble [BKS] filed another revised prospectus for the upcoming spinoff of Barnes & Noble Education [BNED], telling investors just how much stock they will receive: For every single share of Barnes & Noble Inc. stock owned, investors will 0.632 shares of BNED common stock. Ultimately the stock market will determine what the two entities are “worth” once separated. But based on the current stock price and market capitalization, that implies something like a $640 million market cap for BNED and a $1 billion market cap for BKS (not including the preferred shares). In the filing, however, BN’s […]
People: A Harry Potter Play, and More
JK Rowling announced on Twitter that she has written a play — Harry Potter and Cursed Child — that will open in London’s West End next summer. She calls it “a collaboration” with writer Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany, along with singer-songwriter Imogen Heap. Tickets will go on sale this fall, and the production will be stated at the Palace Theatre. The theater’s website says the play “will explore the backstory leading up to Harry’s parents untimely death at the hands of Lord Voldemort.” Rowling writes, “I’ve had countless offers to extend Harry’s story over the years, but Jack, […]
Scribd Takes Over Librify; Google Ventures Backs Personalized Children’s Publisher
Scribd has acquired social reading ebook retail platform Librify. Founded in 2013 by Joanna Stone Herman, Ingram Content Group Ventures was among Librify’s funders, and their primary retail relationship was with Target. Scribd ceo Trip Adler said in a statement, “We value Librify’s focus on the social reading experience and the great work they’ve already done within reading communities. This move is a natural extension of the existing Scribd product and something we, and our readers, have wanted to explore more deeply.” Herman adds, “we set out to create a book club like reading experience for the digital age and we’re excited […]
Corporate: Harlequin’s Customer Rewards Program; Bonnier Germany Drops DRM
Harlequin has launched a new customer loyalty program, Harlequin My Rewards, which gives members opportunities to earn rewards such as autographed books, signature gift baskets and Skype conversations with favorite Harlequin authors. Harlequin My Rewards presents readers with points for purchasing books or engaging in multiple online activities, including sharing book reviews, providing opinions, completing weekly book challenges and games, tweeting and partaking in Facebook activities. In addition, readers who purchase Harlequin books at retail locations can earn points by taking a photo of their receipts, which they email or upload to the Rewards site. Bonnier Germany (which includes Carlsen, […]