Douglas Holding, the parent company of Germany’s struggling bookstore chain Thalia, has arranged a buyout that might take the company private, and at the least it will increase the stake of the founding Kreke family. US private equity firm Advent International is leading the bid, which values the company at 1.5 billion euros. Douglas Holding includes successful a perfume and cosmetics chain, a jewellery seller, clothing stores and candy stores. The company’s results have suffered mainly due to the continuing restructuring at Thalia, recording a group net loss of 73 million euros in the first nine months of their most […]
Finance
Corporate: Swann Steps Down as CEO of WHSmith; Final Suitors for McGraw-Hill Education;HarperCollins Moves to Streamline Global Publishing Infrastructure; and More
Kate Swann will step down as ceo of WHSmith on June 30 after more than nine years, the company announced Thursday. She will be replaced by current managing director of Smith’s high street business Steve Clarke. “It is an opportune time to make a change of leadership, and I am sure that the company will continue to thrive under Steve,” Swann told the FT. She didn’t elaborate further on future plans but said she “certainly doesn’t intend to retire.” The news was announced in tandem with the release of WHSmith’s preliminary full-year results, in which pre-tax profits rose 9.7 percent […]
Once Again, A Sale Is Likely for Springer
The plaything of private equity, academic publisher Springer is headed for a sale yet again, with a speculated price that doesn’t seem to reflect much change in value. In late 2009 Sweden’s EQT Partners and the Singapore government took it off of Candover and Cinven’s hands for a small amount of cash and assumption of 2.2 billion euros in debt. (Candover and Cinven had bought what was Bertelsmann Springer in 2003 and merged it with Kluwers Academic Publishers. As de rigeur now, the report says the owners are looking at a possible IPO on the German stock market in addition […]
German Bookstores Are Down 4.7 Percent; Fnac’s French Owners Reported to Look for Sale At Any Price
Even with ebook adoption in its very early stages outside of the English-language world, brick-and-mortar bookstores all over are feeling the pressure of a changing world. As head of the Association of German Publishers and Booksellers Gottfried Honnefelder said at the opening press conference of the Frankfurt Book Fair, so far this year the German book market as a whole is down two percent, but physical bookstores are down 4.7 percent and “one of our leading retailers said 50 percent of the retail space [for books] has to be abolished.” eBooks are not yet to blame, as they are expected to double […]
Financier Leon Black’s Family Buys Phaidon
Founder of private equity firm Apollo Leon D. Black has acquired Phaidon Press from Richard Schlagman. Black explains in the announcement, “We have greatly admired Phaidon and the important contribution the company has made to art and culture. My family and I look forward to supporting the future growth of the company, including through the ongoing development of its publishing program, further geographic expansion, and the launch of digital products.” Schlagman says in the announcement, “The profile of the ideal buyer in my mind was exceeded in reality by Leon Black and his family. Self-evidently possessed of immense business acumen, […]
Results At Both Canongate and Faber Down In 2011
Two independent UK publishers have reported difficult sales results (following the drop over at Quercus as well). Canongate’s 2011 sales fell 19 percent, to £10.8 million, and pre-tax profit was a meager £300,000, down 70 percent, with an operating loss after taxes. And that margin was boosted by £660,000 from the sale of their 70 percent share in Australia’s Text Publishing. The company blamed “Julian Assange’s failure to deliver the book he had contracted to produce,” without mentioning their decision to publish an unauthorized and ultimately unsuccessful version of his manuscript anyway. Faber and Faber said sales fell 8.4 percent, […]