Software company Blackboard, a staple of high school and college classrooms, is exploring a sale, hoping for a valuation of up to $3.4 billion, Reuters reports. According to “people familiar with the matter” Blackboard’s majority owner Providence Equity Partners has hired Deutsche Bank and Bank of America to run an auction and two anonymous people suggest the target would be “a valuation between 14 times to 17 times EBITDA,” currently at around $200 million annually. Providence took Blackboard private in 2011 for $1.64 billion (and took on $130 million in net debt.)
Finance
Briefs: Another Pearson Sale, RCS to Meet on Mondadori Offer, and More
Following their big £844 million sale of the FT to Nikkei, Pearson acknowledged over the weekend that they are in talks with the co-owners of The Economist about selling their 50 percent stake in that organization as well. A Bloomberg source says that separate sale could yield another £400 million for Pearson. Separately, The Bookseller reports that Harper UK has negotiated a new sales agreement with Amazon, though they have no details. Italy’s RCS will discuss the buyout offer from Mondadori for their book publishing division at their July 30 board meeting to review the first-half 2015 results, La Republicca reported. […]
Pearson to Sell FT Group to Nikkei
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 […]
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 […]