BN chairman Len Riggio revealed in an SEC filing that he and his wife sold 2 million shares of Barnes & Noble stock on Tuesday. The sale was below market price, at $13.81 a share, “in a privately negotiated block trade.” As recently as last Thursday those share were worth over $5 million more — before the company disclosed two SEC investigations. Riggio also gave 160,000 shares to The Riggio Foundation, and the foundation itself “made a gift” of 80,000 shares. The filing says “the aforementioned transfers were made for tax planning purposes.” The Riggios still own or control roughly […]
Finance
People: Judith Regan Returns to Publishing, Backed By Phaidon
Judith Regan will return to book publishing as ceo of Regan Arts, proclaimed a “publishing imprint and multimedia venture” backed by Phaidon Global (owner of Phaidon Press). Regan said in the announcement: “I am thrilled to partner with Phaidon, one of the world’s finest publishers, and Leon and Debra Black and family who are all deeply committed to the power of creative expression and the future of the book. Their love of great artists, authors, stories and design is an inspiration to all. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with such a gifted and dedicated team.” The […]
BN Faces Follow-On Investigations
After we called attention on Friday morning to Barnes & Noble’s disclosure of two SEC investigations, market reaction was swift (and by most standards excessive). The stock fell by approximately $2 a share on heavy volume of over 7 million shares, closing down about 12 percent for the day, at $14.43 a share. You could posit that investors are worried that the investigations might pose a distraction to management — but that’s where the beauty of a company that runs itself with no ceo to be distracted ought to help out. Almost as swift as the sell-off was a wave […]
Barnes & Noble Discloses SEC Investigation
In their quarterly SEC filing for the period ending October 26, Barnes & Noble reported that just before the close of their second quarter, on October 16, the SEC notified the company that it was being investigated. The agency’s New York office is looking into: “(1) the Company’s restatement of earnings announced on July 29, 2013, and (2) a separate matter related to a former non-executive employee’s allegation that the company improperly allocated certain Information Technology expenses between its Nook and Retail segments for purposes of segment reporting.” BN says it “is cooperating with the SEC, including responding to requests […]
In the UK, Some Macmillan Education Employees Will Leave Rather than Move
Approximately 85 to 90 employees of Macmillan Education in the UK are electing to leave their jobs rather than relocate to London from Oxford, the Bookseller reports. Palgrave Macmillan is also relocating to the new London “campus” from Basingstoke, but it is not known yet how many of their employees are declining to move. As a result, “the company is currently recruiting to fill roles available within the London headquarters, with staff numbers at Macmillan Education understood to be set to grow 25% above the earlier total by March 2014.” When completed, the new offices will house more than 1,600 […]
Houghton Pops, Chegg Drops
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt‘s IPO had a modest start on Tuesday night, when the company priced their stock at $12 a share — below the planned target range of $14 to $16 a share, reflecting a softer reception from investors. But those shares popped when trading began at roughly 10:50 Wednesday morning on the NASDAQ, rising 30 percent or more before settling back to roughly $15 a share when we were finalizing the morning’s mail. The reduction in proceeds from the initial sale has no impact on the company, since all the money raised goes to the existing shareholders, who were selling […]