With any suspense taken away by last week’s Reuters leak, the European Commission officially approved the Penguin Random House merger Friday morning “without conditions,” following in line with approvals from the DOJ, Australia, and New Zealand. EU regulators said in an emailed statement obtained by Bloomberg: “The commission’s investigation revealed no evidence that the transaction would lead to risks of coordination among publishers in relation to the acquisition of authors’ rights and the sale of English language books to dealers.” It adds, “the merged entity will furthermore face a concentrated retail base, such as supermarkets for print books and large […]
Finance
Further Shades
A number of agents and authors have been posting more details about–and further dissatisfaction with–the offer to Night Shade authors to modify their contracts and allow them to be transferred to Skyhorse and Start Publishing. As is clear now, Skyhorse seeks to acquire print rights only, and Start Publishing is looking to take over ebook rights. The latter is run by Jarred Weisfeld as a subsidiary of Start Media, “a well-capitalized privately held media company” that he says “is looking to acquire six publishing companies this year.” Weisfeld, who also is an agent at Objective Entertainment, says Start Publishing is “completely separate from […]
Night Shade Books Finds Buyer in Skyhorse–But Only If Authors Renegotiate
San Francisco-based publisher of science fiction & fantasy Night Shade Books, which has been struggling financially for several years, indicated in a letter to authors and agents earlier this week that the company plans to sell its assets to Skyhorse (as well as another entity, Start Publishing LLC.) The catch is that the sale cannot happen unless “a sufficient number of Night Shade authors agree to certain changes to their contracts.” Alternately, Night Shade will file for bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings. In the letter, Night Shade explains their financial difficulties were exacerbated by Borders’ liquidation, so much so that they […]
More Wiley Fallout: HMH’s “Bargain”; Harper Canada’s Buy; and Frommer Gets Back Frommer’s
It’s another fascinating day of fallout from the sales of Wiley’s trade assets. In Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s recently issued 2012 annual report, the company characterizes their acquisition of Wiley’s culinary and reference books as a “bargain purchase.” It was such a good deal, in fact, that HMH booked a special $30.8 million gain on the acquisition. They paid $11 million, but determined that “the fair value assigned to the net assets exceeded the consideration paid,” valuing the whole package at $41.8 million. That tells you something about how lean the offers were for Wiley’s properties, regardless of their value, and […]
Wiley Finds A Buyer for Miscellaneous Trade Lines
Wiley’s remaining grab-bag of trade publishing titles for disposal–their pets and crafts lines; brands and lines including Howell Book House and Baseball Prospectus; and other books, comprising 1,500 titles in all–have been sold to Turner Publishing in a deal that closed April 2. Terms were not disclosed today but, as with Wiley’s asset sales to Google and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, will likely be acknowledged in their next quarterly report. Turner president and publisher Todd Bottorff said “this strategic acquisition broadens Turner’s list…and represents an exciting growth opportunity within the crafts, pets, and general interest areas.” Indeed, it more than doubles […]
People, Etc.
The new controlling owners of the Agatha Christie estate have signed with William Morris Endeavor for exclusive representation of all facets of the estate, “expanding its reach across television, film and digital media.” Acorn Productions acquired the 64 percent stake in Agatha Christie Ltd that had been owned by Chorion in February 2012, calling it “the most important deal in the company’s history.” The Agatha Christie family owns the remaining 36 percent. Christie’s literary works include over 80 novels and short story collections and 19 plays, which they say continue to sell at a rate of over three million books per year […]