What seemed like a premature announcement from Egmont that it was closing its US office at the end of January after giving their “attempts to sell” the unit only four months now has further clarity. Lerner Publishing has acquired Egmont USA’s list of nearly 100 titles, and will fold those titles into its existing imprints including Carolrhoda Books, Carolrhoda La, Darby Creek, and Millbrook Press as of April 30. Egmont USA will publish the eight remaining titles on their 2015 winter list which will be distributed by Random House until April 30, at which time Lerner will take over publication […]
Finance
Announcements: Quarto Buys Ivy; Maya Angelou Postage Stamp; Kindle Scout Launch List; and More
Quarto Publishing has agreed to acquire The Ivy Press for up to £1.3 million plus the assumption of up to £200,000 of debt, pending approval from the press’s lender. The unit will become part of Quarto’s international co-editions division. Founded in 1996, Ivy Press has been distributed by Thames & Hudson since 2012. Co-founder and co-owner Jenny Manstead used to work for Quarto, and is married to one of Quarto’s non executive directors, Bob Morley. Manstead says, “This is exactly the right move for Ivy at the right time. Becoming part of Quarto gives us a solid, secure platform from which to develop our publishing program with […]
Chegg to Outsource Print Textbook Business to Ingram
Building substantially on an initiative that began last August, Chegg.com will transition the handling of all print textbook inventory over to Ingram under a renewable, five-year agreement as the company that started as a textbook rental play moves towards becoming an all-digital “student hub.” (Digital textbook rentals will become Chegg’s biggest business, in which they compete directly with Ingram’s CourseSmart, among many other players.) Chegg is positioning the move as a full reboot of the company, whose stock has languished since it went public in late 2013 — in part because Chegg has lost money since launching in 2007, and those […]
Baker & Taylor Sells BTMS to Readerlink, YBP to EBSCO
A formal announcement is expected on Monday detailing a sale of Baker & Taylor’s Baker & Taylor Merchandise Services (BTMS) unit to ReaderLink, consolidating the latter’s leading position distributing books to warehouse clubs and mass merchandisers. BTMS is based around the assets acquired in bankruptcy from Advanced Marketing Services (AMS) in 2007, servicing the wholesale club business. ReaderLink is also acquiring the former AMS publishing lines (including Thunder Bay Press, Silver Dolphin and Portable Press) as part of the transaction. PGW has been the distributor of those imprints. ReaderLink mentioned the acquisition — agreed to some time ago, and awaiting clearance […]
Bertelsmann Builds Education Play with Stake in Alliant University
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, […]
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 […]