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, […]
Finance
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 […]
Donnelley’s Higher Bid For Courier Wins Out
As expected, RR Donnelley has bested Quad/Graphics in acquiring Courier Corp. after making a higher bid. The two companies announced they have entered into a material agreement for Donnelley to buy Courier at $23 a share — or about $15 million more than Quad/Graphics offered last month. The new agreement, which is set to close in the middle of the year, “represents a mix of approximately 49 percent cash and 51 percent stock, and a total transaction value of approximately $261 million, plus the assumption of Courier’s net debt and payout of outstanding equity awards,” according to the joint announcement. Donnelley president and […]
In Restructuring, Centre Lane Takes Control of Perseus LLC Funds, Including Perseus Books Group
The long, messy restructuring of the Perseus LLC private equity investments in the wake of Perseus chairman Frank Pearl’s death almost 3 years ago has come to an end. A new private equity firm, Centre Lane Partners, prevailed as the winning bidder in the auction run by advisory firm Cogent Partners, acquiring controlling interest in funds said to own or control approximately 11 different companies — including the Perseus Books Group — and now acting as manager partner for those interests. That makes Centre Lane the new entity in control of PBG, which confirmed the investment on Tuesday evening with an […]
Daily Amazon: Flame Out On Tablet Sales, Interest In Radio Shack, and More
Suspicions about broad weakness in the market for new tablets were confirmed by the latest fourth quarter Tablet Tracker report from International Data Corporation. Apple already reported that iPad sales declined to 21.4 million units in the holiday quarter, still the dominant player in the market. More surprisingly, IDC says that Amazon shipped only 1.7 million Fire tablets across the line, despite refreshing their offerings last September. By IDC’s count, Amazon’s tablet shipments were down almost 70 percent from 5.8 million units in Q4 2013. Similarly, the company estimates Amazon shipped only 3.3 million tablets all year last year, down […]
Briefs: R&L Acquires Distributed Line; Borderlands to Close, Blaming Minimum Wage Law
Rowman & Littlefield announced it has acquired the assets of cookbook publisher Gooseberry Patch, which has been a longtime distribution of R&L’s National Book Network (NBN). Gooseberry Patch will operate as part of Globe Pequot, which R&L acquired in 2014, and Gooseberry coo Liz Plotnick-Snay will continue to oversee the line of over 200 titles. San Francisco bookstore Borderlands announced on its website that it plans to close “no later than March 31,” blaming the city’s new minimum wage law passed last November. “Although all of us at Borderlands support the concept of a living wage in principal and we believe that it’s […]