On the heels of the Osprey Group selling off Angry Robot, Watkins, and Nourish earlier this month to entrepreneur Etan Ilfeld, the remaining divisions are still potentially up for sale, with Bloomsbury considered to be the most likely buyer, the Bookseller reports. They say the current speculation is that “both Bloomsbury and Hachette were in the running to acquire [Osprey]” but that Bloomsbury is the front-runner. That said, “neither Bloomsbury, Sullivan, Osprey chairman Robin Black nor Alcuin Capital would respond to requests for details of the sale.” Canongate reported strong results for 2013, with full-year sales at £10.4 million, up 7.8 percent […]
Finance
Harper Germany to Launch In 2015; Will Publish Silva In 16 Territories
HarperCollins is creating a HarperCollins Germany publishing program, expanding on the operation in Hamburg acquired as part of their purchase of Harlequin and launching in fall 2015 with approximately 50 Harper branded titles. The German initiative is itself just a first step, as Harper plans to take those 50 titles and others to in Japan, Sweden, Holland and Spain “in the coming months,” with more territories also in process. “In the markets where we own 100 percent of the [Harlequin] companies we’ll go very quickly,” says ceo Brian Murray. The Harlequin units operate as joint ventures in France, Italy and Brazil, where “there’s […]
The Talk of Frankfurt 2015: A Bertelsmann Buyout of Pearson’s Penguin Random House Share?
A Bloomberg article restates the already-known in provocative fashion: “Bertelsmann intends to increase its stake in book-publishing venture Penguin Random House as early as next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Bertelsmann, owner of 53 percent of the New York-based business, plans to acquire part or all of the 47 percent held by Pearson, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private deliberations. While Bertelsmann and Pearson aren’t in talks, Pearson is willing to sell and can do so starting October 2015 under a shareholder agreement, the people said.” Does the article actually say anything new and […]
Corporate: EC Investigates Amazon’s Tax Break; Frankfurt News; and More
The European Commission “opened an in-depth investigation” into the 2003 sweetheart tax deal between Luxembourg and Amazon. This is not the tax loophole that lets Amazon sell digital goods across Europe at Luxembourg’s low VAT rate, under the pretense that they are selling the items from that nation (and that loophole goes away in 2015 regardless). Rather, this is a deal that lets Amazon pay almost no corporate tax on their €13.6 billion in Euroeapn sales. In the current structure, the FT reports, Amazon’s Luxembourg operating unit showed minimal profit of €29 million on those sales, though it paid €2.1 […]
Corporate: Bertelsmann Buys Balance of Gruner + Jahr; Ingram Opens In California; and More
Bertelsmann will pay an undisclosed nine-figure sum to buy out the remaining 25.1 percent stake in magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr from Jahr Holding. The cash transaction is set to close November 1. Chief executive Thomas Rabe says, “We are following up [our] clear commitments to the television, book and music industries with another clear commitment to journalism.” G+J had sales of €2.1 billion in 2013, though sales were down almost €100 in the first half of 2014. Last Friday Ingram Content Group, opened a 50,000-square-foot print-on-demand printing and distribution operation in Fresno, CA. It’s their first facility in California. […]
Corporate: Faber Press, Harper Takes Control of Nelson Brasil, and More
In the UK, Henry Volans will lead a new Faber Press division as director. It comprises poetry, drama, film and classical music publishing in all formats, and incorporates Faber Fine Press, Faber Finds, and Faber Digital as well. CEO Stephen Page says: “Henry takes on a very wide brief with this role, looking at how we create value for our authors, and for our readers. With the materials at hand – the extraordinary backlist, the talented editors, there is a huge amount that can be done. Faber Social was our prototype for this without even knowing it, finding out what readers want and […]