Hachette’s ongoing terms dispute with Amazon has given cover for the WSJ to describe another recently resolved terms dispute between the retailer and a different, smaller publisher. Kensington ceo Steven Zacharius told the paper the company spent 18 months negotiating its latest deal with Amazon, which began in July and expires 12 months later. Discussions lasted so long, Zacharius said, because “each person got entrenched and didn’t want to budge. But at a certain point there has to be compromise.” Zacharius wouldn’t say why the talks dragged on so long but that it resulted in “a fair deal for both […]
Finance
HarperCollins Completes Harlequin Acquisition
News Corp announced Friday that it has completed its acquisition of Harlequin in early May, with the publisher set to keep its Toronto headquarters and, as previously announced, operate as a division of HarperCollins. The deal closed in advance of HarperCollins’ next quarterly report, which will be announced after the close of the market on August 7. “We are pleased to formally welcome Harlequin and its employees to the new News,” said News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson in the announcement. “The addition of such an iconic brand with a loyal audience, robust global expertise and digital depth is a […]
Corporate: Perseus Sale Postponed; Mondadori Merges Children’s Imprints
The closing of the sale of the Perseus Books Group to Hachette — with the distribution businesses to be sold in turn to Ingram Content Group — has been postponed past the intended July 31 date. That closing date always seemed ambitious, since the complicated three-way agreement was not executed until June 24, though up until a few days ago the parties were proceeding on track with that closing date. Indeed, HBG indicated to us in a brief statement, “This transaction is more complex because there are three parties involved and so more time is needed.” Perseus employees were told by email […]
Sales Slide At Harlequin, With Sale Now Expected Within Days
Harlequin’s current parent company Torstar announced second quarter results on Wednesday morning, and the company said it now “anticipate[s] closing the transaction on or about August 1” to sell Harlequin to HarperCollins. They have “received the regulatory clearances and approvals required,” and “while the transaction remains subject to certain customary closing conditions, the parties continue to work toward satisfying these conditions.” Torstar expects to book a gain of approximately $225 million on the sale. For the second quarter, Harlequin’s sales fell $3.1 million to $96.4 million, and net income fell $4 million, to just $1.6 million. The company had $2.3 million […]
BookLamp Was Bought By Apple
The mystery of BookLamp’s disappearance online has been solved: The company was purchased by Apple. The price was not disclosed, but a source tells Tech Crunch — which reported the news on a tip and then obtained confirmation from Apple — that the price was “higher than $10 million and lower than $15 million.” Apple’s only official comment, was: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.” In April BookLamp’s web site displayed a “thank you for your support” message that only indicated their beta book recommendation engine (the […]
Legato to Be Merged Into PGW as Suchomel Exits
Ingram’s acquisition of Perseus’s distribution companies will close on July 31 as previously expected, and the first major change will see Legato Publishers Group formally merged into PGW, with founder Mark Suchomel leaving on August 1. The former president of IPG, Suchomel founded Legato in May 2013 and it operated as an “affiliated” of PGW. In a statement Ingram Publisher Services general manager Mark Ouimet said: “As part of the acquisition of the Perseus distribution business and its transition to Ingram, Mark Suchomel will not be continuing on in his role as President of Legato Publishers Group as of August 1, 2014. […]