The unwinding of Osprey Publishing is complete with the announcement Monday that the company has been sold to Bloomsbury for £4.6 million in cash and stock. (Of that, £3.2 million is in cash, paid to private equity owners Alcuin Capital.) Bloomsbury says the business had sales of £7 million in 2013, over half of which comes from outside of the UK — mostly in the US — with almost no profit. Bloomsbury was considered a leading candidate to buy Osprey, mentioned along with Hachette UK in October. In June Osprey closed their Strange Chemistry Exhibit A imprints and the company was engaged […]
Finance
Moonves: Simon & Schuster Is “A Little Gem”
Right at the end of a 50-minute interview at the UBS investor conference earlier this week, CBS ceo Les Moonves spoke briefly about Simon & Schuster’s recent negotiations with Amazon. Asked, “what’s changing with the new deal?,” Moonves gave a thoroughly non-specific answer: “We’re not allowed to really talk about it; we’ve gotten in trouble with S&S before, but let’s put it this way: I think Carolyn Reidy and her team did a phenomenal job. There clearly was a logjam with Hachette and Amazon and I think we were able to get a place where it’s much more reasonable for […]
BN Pays Microsoft $62.5 Million In Nook Buyback
In a series of complex SEC documents, Barnes & Noble indicated that they have paid Microsoft $62.5 million to buyback their 16.8 percent share in Nook Media LLC, along with 2.74 million shares of BN stock (valued at $62.5 million, though that stock is worth less already). That implies a “fair market value” of about $700 million for Barnes & Noble College and Nook combined. Given that it cost Barnes & Noble $431 million to purchase College from the Riggio family (the last payment for which was just made in September), you can infer that puts a value on Nook […]
Barnes & Noble Disappoints Again with Lower Earnings; Terminates Microsoft Nook Partnership
There was a suspicious spate of financial articles the last couple of days tipping the idea that the worst is over at Barnes & Noble and Nook and earnings would be up — but the results announced before the opening of the market on Thursday proved those hopeful stories wrong again. Analysts hoped earnings per share would more than double to 31 cents — but instead consolidated net earnings fell $1 million, to 12 cents a share. Analyst John Tinker at Maxim Group had convinced the WSJ Nook would only lose $14 million (they lost almost 3 times that) on […]
Corporate: Mondadori to Spin Off Books Group As A Separate Company; Moody’s Has Negative Outlook On Amazon
Italy’s Arnoldo Mondadori Editore announced last week that they will spin off their book publishing and book distribution units as a separate, freestanding company effective January 1, 2015, to be called Mondadori Libri. The company says “the operation will not involve any changes to the overall profile of the underlying businesses and operating characteristics of the group.” The move is seen as opening the door to more aggressive mergers and acquisitions opportunities, from partnerships to purchases, or as the release states it, “The contribution will also facilitate the creation of a more functional corporate structure for the potential realization, with a view […]
Hachette Book Group Agrees to Acquire Black Dog & Leventhal
Hachette Book Group continues to add to its growing nonfiction list, following the summer’s failed effort to acquire the Perseus Book Group. The company announced Thursday it has agreed to purchase illustrated book publisher Black Dog & Leventhal. The deal will close “in the next several months, subject to meeting the closing conditions.” Once completed, the line will become an imprint of the Hachette Books nonfiction division. Founder J.P. Leventhal will stay on as publisher, with Rebecca Koh moving up to editorial director, and Maureen Winter becoming associate publisher. BDL publishes 20 to 30 books a year, and has been […]