With the April sale of 3.7 million shares of Barnes & Noble common stock by chairman Len Riggio — and the sale earlier in the month of nearly all of Liberty Media’s convertible preferred shares in the bookseller — there were bound to be disclosures on the way about new major holders in the company. On Friday, investor David Abrams and associated hedge funds operated by Abrams Capital Management disclosed ownership of a total of 3.746 million shares in the bookseller, or 6.26 percent of the common stock. Separately, a scan of large holders on Bloomberg indicates that other hedge […]
Finance
Amazon/HBG: Deaver and Patterson Comment; Bonnier Reports the Same Situation
At least two prominent Hachette Book Group authors have written to fans on Facebook about what is happening between their publisher and Amazon. Jeffery Deaver, whose new book just released, writes: “I’m afraid that those of you who buy my books on Amazon will find getting the novel a more expensive proposition than normal. Because of a dispute with Hachette Book Group, which publishes THE SKIN COLLECTOR, Amazon has chosen to attempt to intimidate publisher, authors and readers alike by significantly reducing purchase price discounts of my books and those written by other Hachette authors. Equally troubling to me personally Amazon […]
Corporate: Sales Fall At Lagardere Publishing; HMH Buys Channel One News
First quarter sales at Lagardere Publishing fell 26 million euros (or 6.2 percent) in the first quarter, to 393 million euros, “due mostly to the comparison” to a strong quarter a year ago, which included sales of the Fifty Shades trilogy in France. Similarly, for the US unit, HBG USA ceo Michael Pietsch said they “had a tough comparison due to Q1 2013 movie tie in bestsellers of Nicholas Sparks’s SAFE HAVEN, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, and Stephenie Meyer’s THE HOST, but new bestsellers made up most of that ground…. Ebook sales slowed from last year’s first […]
International: Paragon Acquires Bankrupt Weltbild; Amazon Partners With Italian Bookstore Chain Giunti
German media group Weltbild, which went into bankruptcy reorganization last January, has been acquired by private equity group Paragon, Manager Magazin reports. As part of the deal, for which terms were not disclosed, Paragon will take a majority stake in Weltbild and transfer the main business in Germany as well as satellite operations in Austria and Switzerland to a new company. Since the bankruptcy, 900 of Weltbild’s employees (nearly 50 percent of the workforce) have lost their jobs and 50 of 220 stores have closed. Amazon has partnered with Italian bookstore chain Giunti, which will allow the bookseller to sell […]
Many Hachette Print Books Are Hard to Get From Amazon, As “Negotiations Are Underway”
A large number of Hachette Book Group print books are not available directly from Amazon.com in timely fashion, showing as shipping in anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks, even though the same titles are readily in stock at other booksellers. The NYT takes note of the unusual situation and elicits a response from HBG spokesperson Sophie Cottrell, who says Amazon is doing this “for reasons of their own.” Cottrell provided us with the company’s full statement: “It is our normal policy not to comment on negotiations underway with any retailer. “However, we have been asked legitimate questions about why many of […]
Frontiers: BN College Aims to Grow; Speculation On A McGraw-Hill IPO
Barnes & Noble College ceo Max Roberts tells Reuters the unit plans to add about 300 stores over the next 5 years, bringing them to approximately 1,000 locations. The company has added about 50 college bookstores over the past two years, with almost 700 stores now. Reuters writes: “It intends to do that by getting more schools to outsource their bookstore operations with the lure of nicer, higher-grossing stores and by poaching accounts from larger rival Follett Corp.” Separately, an article in The Deal cites “sources speculating” that Apollo Global Management may be looking to float an IPO in McGraw-Hill […]