One-time Barnes & Noble financial savior (and potential acquirer) Liberty Media is moving on, announcing Thursday morning that it is selling the bulk of its preferred shares in the bookseller. Liberty says it “has sold the majority of its shares to qualified institutional buyers” with the sales expected to settle on April 8, while retaining “approximately 10 percent of its initial investment.” The announcement implies that Liberty’s reduced stake may allow for new strategic investors or even another run at taking the company private or splitting it into separate parts. Chairman Len Riggio is attributed in the press release with […]
Finance
Cengage Completes Restructuring
Two months after reaching an agreement with its primary creditors and investors, Cengage announced it has completed its financial restructuring, which eliminated $4 billion of its $5.8 billion total debt, and has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The remaining debt — which is slightly less than the company’s annual sales of approximately $2 billion — will be addressed in a new round of financing. Though headquartered in Stamford, CT, Cengage has relocated its management team to a Boston office and ceo Michael Hansen tells the Boston Globe they intend to employ about 500 people in the area by the end […]
Hodder Offers to Buy Quercus
Two months after putting itself up for sale, Quercus has found a buyer in Hodder & Stoughton, which has made an all-cash offer of £12.6 million for the publisher. Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close at the end of April and be finalized by the end of June, Quercus shareholders will be entitled to receive 60p per Quercus share, while Hodder has received “irrevocable undertakings from Quercus shareholders” for a total of 13,492,311 shares, or 65.67 percent of existing share capital. The offer represents a 144.9 per cent markup on the 24.5 share price of […]
Penguin Random House Acquires Santillana Trade Publishing
Though the story was denied when it first circulated in April 2013, Penguin Random House has now officially acquired the Santillana trade book business from Spain’s challenged Prisa Group. Santillana Ediciones operates in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, including Brazil. Santillana says in their announcement that the purchase price was 72 million euros. Penguin Random House declined to comment on Santillana’s account. PRH ceo Markus Dohle says in a note to employees, “Santillana’s outstanding publishing houses and rich frontlists and backlists make them the perfect partner for Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, creating an unrivaled roster of Spanish and international authors that […]
Hastings Merger Would Pay Top Execs to Leave
A series of documents filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed buyout of retailer Hastings indicate that current ceo John Marmaduke and cfo Dan Crowe will “voluntarily retire from the company in exchange for” cash payments once the merger goes through. The agreements call for Marmaduke to receive $1.5 million after taxes (so closer to $2.6 million gross), and for Crowe to receive $750,000 after taxes. Both men agree to waive the current change in control clauses in their existing employment agreements. Chief operating officer Alan Van Ongevalle has agreed to stay on after the deal closes. The payout […]
Hastings Shareholder Offers to Merge Company With Supplier
Multimedia entertainment retailer Hastings, which has been in steady financial decline for years, has entered into a merger agreement with a company owned by Joel Weinshanker, who already owns a 12 percent stake in Hastings and runs National Entertainment Collectibles Association, a key supplier of movie, book and video game merchandise and collectibles to Hastings for more than a decade. Under the terms of the deal, valued at $21.4 million or $3 a share (a 50 percent premium on the closing share price at the end of last week) Hastings would be merged with Hendrix Acquisition Corp under the parent company […]