In an innovative transaction, the employees of publisher Chelsea Green have become the controlling owners of close to 80 percent of the company’s shares. They bought out the company’s outside investors, with president and publisher Margo Baldwin along with Ian Baldwin (who founded the press together in 1984) retaining their minority stake. Chelsea Green’s employee stock ownership plan–which is a pension plan–bought the shares on behalf of the employees. Baldwin notes “the company had to have an outside valuation and the board of directors decided on the share offering price,” which could not exceed the valuation. Baldwin undersores to us, […]
Finance
Houghton Pitches Digital Deals and Potential IPO to Financial Press
As indicated in their bankruptcy documents, now that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has cleansed their balance sheet they are hoping to prepare for a sale of shares to the public. Thus begins a campaign to woo the financial press, with stories today in both the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. CEO Linda Zecher tells FT she hopes they can pursue an IPO “over the next 18 to 24 months.” After the unsuccessful effort to sell the small trade division in 2009, Zecher says its place is secure: “What we can gain from trade is far greater than [the benefits […]
With Spinoff Official, Harper UK ceo Barnsley Anticipates “More Clout” While Morrow Restructures Publicity and Marketing Departments
With News Corp making the spinoff of its entire publishing business official, it remains to be seen how the newly formed company will operate over the next few months, pending approval, and afterwards, presuming regulatory bodies give the OK for the split. The new business will start life with cash reserves and without any debt, and Rupert Murdoch, talking to Bloomberg Thursday, was appropriately bullish: “Our publishing business is more valuable than people give us credit for…There are great digital opportunities in publishing, and net-net, around the world, we’ll be increasing our numbers and increasing our costs and hopefully increasing […]
Corporate: Amazon Publishing In Line To Buy Dorchester Publishing Assets; BN Annual Report Tidbits
Months after long-troubled Dorchester Publishing went into foreclosure with more than $2.9 million in outstanding debts to owner John Backe, it appears Amazon Publishing is in line to acquire the company’s backlist, contracts, and other intellectual property, according to a notice of public disposition issued on June 27 and first reported on by agent Richard Curtis. Potential bidders have until August 15 to submit competing offers and, should there be additional bidders, an auction will be held on August 28 at the offices of Garfunkel Wild in Great Neck, NY. Considering how long Dorchester’s assets have been up for grabs, […]
News Corp Makes Publishing Unit Spinoff Official
Thursday morning News Corp made official what multiple news outlets had been reporting on for the past few days: the company will split into two publicly traded entities, the much larger (and more profitable) media and entertainment division, as well a smaller publishing business comprising newspapers such as the WSJ, New York Post, and The Times (London) and Sunday Times, its integrated marketing services division, fledgling education company, as well as, of course, HarperCollins. Under the terms of the separation, which needs to be approved by the board and signed off on by regulatory agencies, News Corp’s shareholders “would receive […]
Briefs: Gallimard Officially Acquires Flammarion; Smashwords Set To Provide Self-Published eBooks to Califa Library Consortium; and More
After months on the block, with a number of bidders dropping out and an asking price that nobody wanted to meet, RCS is officially selling French publisher Flammarion to Gallimard — the front-runner all along — for 251 million Euros, nearly 50 million below that original asking price. Reuters reports that RCS will receive about 230 million from the sale, and will post a consolidated gain of 88 million euros. The deal is expected to close in September. A number of publishers met with the European Commission in Brussels Tuesday to call for the streamlining of taxes on ebook purchases […]