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 […]
Finance
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 […]
eNews: Mondadori Takes Over Anobii, Plus Indie Links for LAT and A Rooster
Sainsbury’s has passed on the social network part of Anobii (a European Bookish, with all that implies), to Mondadori. Despite Anobii’s multi-year efforts to build a viable ebookstore focused on the UK, the site’s strength — if there was one — was an international audience centered in Asia (since it was founded in Hong Kong in 2006) and Italy (Anobii was run for many years by Italian-born Matteo Berlucchi). Mondadori says in the release that Anobii’s “strongest base” is Italy, “with 300,000 users.” Mondadori Group chief executive Ernesto Mauri says, “A platform that will enable us to listen to people is […]
Ingram Unit Buys CourseSmart
Ingram’s VitalSource announced Monday it has acquired the assets of CourseSmart, the online textbook venture created in 2007 by a coalition of the field’s dominant publishers, including Macmillan, Cengage Learning, Wiley, McGraw-Hill Education and Pearson. CourseSmart has millions of users around the world and “offers access to over 90 percent of core higher education titles as e-textbooks along with the largest catalog of e-resources and digital course materials.” Ingram says “CourseSmart’s strengths in inventory, instructor sampling and analytics will be integrated with Vital Source’s reader platform and global, scalable distribution network. By combining the two organizations, Vital Source will offer the world’s largest […]
December Lawsuit Alleging Fraud May Shed Light on Macadam/Cage Bankruptcy
The first creditors meeting in the Macadam/Cage Chapter 7 bankruptcy case was held on February 25 at the trustee office in San Francisco, with more creditors expecting to file notices in the court. As the case continues, a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court on December 4 by former employee Dorothy Smith may help illuminate why Macadam/Cage began liquidation proceedings just two weeks later. A graphic designer who was employed by Macadam/Cage from January 2001 through December 2011 (and consulted for them thereafter from January through June 2012), Smith sued for the repayment of loans made to the company […]