Gruner + Jahr said in a statement Friday that, contrary to earlier indications from August, Bertelsmann will not buy up the remaining 25.1 percent in the company not already under its control. “In our intensive and constructive talks with Bertelsmann, we came to the conclusion that the challenges ahead for G&J can best be mastered together,” Jahr managing director Winfried Steeger, managing director of Jahr Holding said in the statement obtained by Bloomberg. Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe added: “Bertelsmann will continue its more than 40 year long, successful relationship with the Jahr family. We are in a strong position to […]
Finance
Amazon, From New York Publishing to Potential Brazilian Acquisition
We know how you can be, and some of you may be enjoying the WSJ’s piece “Amazon Struggles to Crack Publishing” piece a little too much this morning. The focus of the article is that print sales for Amazon’s recently launched New York-based trade imprint are low–because most other outlets are not stocking the company’s titles. (Nielsen BookScan shows sales of approximately 7,000 hardcover copies of Penny Marshall’s My Mother Was Nuts, which includes print sales through Amazon.com itself. But there is no data available on ebook sales.) Tim Ferriss, who approached Amazon directly to sell them his next book […]
Pearson Pays $650 Million for Learning Services Company; Springer Hires JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs
Pearson announced Tuesday an agreement to acquire online learning services provider EmbanetCompass for $650 million from an investor group led by Technology Crossover Ventures and Knowledge Universe. Those services include providing colleges and universities with “program design and development, marketing and student recruitment, faculty training and support, data-driven student retention and learning analytics; student services (counseling, tutoring, mentoring), technology support and launch funding.” The investment is similar to Wiley’s purchase earlier in the month of Deltak.edu for $220 million. EmbanetCompass’s sales are expected to hit $130 million in 2012. Further to reports earlier this month that Springer‘s latest owners would […]
Owner of Germany’s Thalia Bookstores Arranges Sale
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 […]
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 […]