Bertelsmann has continued their roughly billion-dollar education spending spree, agreeing to buy a controlling stake in California-based Alliant International University, a network of five California-based professional schools that has locations in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo as well. The undisclosed investment is said by a Reuters source to be “in the mid-double-digit range.” Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe has been talking for some time about “making the education business a third mainstay of business for Bertelsmann alongside media and services.” Last March he said they would focus on “low-cost online degree programs, educational services and medical education.” Now Rabe expands on that vision, […]
Finance
In Bankruptcy Court, Questions About Plan to Sell Family Christian Stores Back to Itself
There was no hiding the suspicious reorganization strategy being pursued by Family Christian Stores in a bankruptcy court hearing earlier this week. Family Christian Ministries has proposed selling the stores from one FCM subsidiary to another, new subsidiary. No other changes are proposed across the 266 stores and roughly 4,000 employees; the sole point of the reorganization is to clean out their creditors and start all over again. In the initial announcement, FCS ceo Chuck Bengochea said, “We strive to serve God in all that we do and trust His guidance in all our decisions, especially this very important one.” In a video […]
Mondadori Offers to Buy RCS Media’s Book Division
When Mondadori Editore spun off their book publishing and distribution units as a separate company as of January 1, the company indicated it would help them to pursue “partnership and merger opportunities” to grow. With little delay, on Wednesday Mondadori made a non-binding offer to acquire competitor RCS Libri (a unit of RCS Media Group). Reuters reports that people with knowledge of the offer say the deal could be worth between 125 million and 150 million euros. Mondadori recorded book sales of €334 million in fiscal 2013, down from €414 million in 2010 — and for the first 9 months of 2014, they had […]
Sterling to Move Distribution to Donnelley
RR Donnelley announced Tuesday in what looks like a standard press release a multi-year agreement to provide warehousing, distribution and book fulfillment services to Sterling Publishing, with no indication of when that agreement begins. The significant news is not in the announcement: Sterling has run its own warehouse and distribution services up until now, so presumably their longstanding distribution center in Edison, NJ will be vacated, and current Sterling warehouse and distribution jobs are likely on the line. Sterling leases approximately 230,000 square feet of distribution center capacity at their New Jersey facility, and the publisher had continued to run their own distribution, […]
Corporate: BAMM Committee, Quarto Refinances, and More
As expected, the board of Books-a-Million has formed a special committee of independent directors to consider the latest proposal from the family of chairman Clyde Anderson to take the company private by buying all outstanding stock for $2.75 a share. Quarto announced an agreement for a a new four-year, $95 million syndicated bank facility, with four banks that already finance the publisher. As of their half-year report for 2014, Quarto had $94 million in short-term borrowings. The Jamie Oliver Group is working with New York-based investment bank Raine to explore selling a minority stake in the chef’s media and publishing business, […]
What Happens to CBS After Redstone?
For the better part of a decade (or more), book publishing people have looked at Simon & Schuster and wondered whether or when its parent company will sell the publisher — even as executives keep saying they are delighted to have S&S as part of the corporate family. The bigger question, now that it appears controlling owner Sumner Redstone is not immortal (he will turn 92 shortly, and is said to be in failing health), is what will happen to Simon & Schuster’s current parent CBS after Redstone dies. Wall Street has been promoting the idea that Viacom and CBS […]