In a filing with the SEC Tuesday evening Ron Burkle revealed that his Yucaipa Cos. funds, Yucaipa American Alliance II and Yucaipa American Alliance Parallel Funds, had divested themselves of the bulk of the nearly 20 percent stake in Barnes & Noble on May 31. Yucaipa said it had distributed more than 11.9 million shares “in kind” on a pro rata basis to unnamed investors. When Yucaipa explained the original filing in mid-May, they insisted that the move was a reallocation among Burkle’s complicated interests, “distributing shares to some of its affiliates,” and not a move to sell or divest their stake. […]
Finance
Amazon Acquires Genre Publisher Avalon Publishing’s List
Amazon Publishing announced Monday that they have acquired publication rights to 0ver 3,000 backlist titles from Avalon Books, founded in 1950 and focused on publishing romance, mystery and Western novels to the library market. Bill Barry acted as exclusive broker on Avalon’s behalf. Publisher of Avalon Books Ellen Bouregy Mickelsen said in the announcement, “I’ve been running Avalon Books–which was founded by my father–since 1995, and it is time for me to explore the next chapter of my life. I chose Amazon Publishing because they care deeply about the writers, readers, and categories that have long mattered to our family business and they are […]
Corporate: Indigo Q4 Sales Decline Despite One-Shot Kobo Earnings Gain; Flammarion Sale Negotiations Are Extended
Indigo reported sales of C$196 million for the fourth quarter ending March 31, down 2 percent from the previous year, while suffering an operating loss of C$15.7 million from continuing operations, higher than the C$13.7 million the company lost the previous year. But Indigo received a one-shot earnings gain of C$135.7 million from selling Kobo to Rakuten (booking a pre-tax gain of $165 million, presumably less operating losses from the unit). For the full fiscal year, Indigo revenues decreased 2.3 percent to C$934 million and the company reported net profits of C$66.2 million — of which C$94 million was attributed […]
Publishers: U. of Missouri Press to Close; Page Celebrates “Legacy”; Penguin Launches A Pintail
University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe apparently surprised staff with the announcement Thursday that the UM Press will close. Started in 1958, it currently publishes about 30 titles a year, and has issued approximately 2,000 books since its founding. Wolfe said they “take seriously our role to be good stewards of public funds, to use those funds to achieve our strategic priorities and re-evaluate those activities that are not central to our core mission.” The Press has been receiving a $400,000 annual subsidy. A phase out of operations will begin this July. “Ten employees will be affected,” the Columbia Daily […]
Analyst Accepts Penguin’s Place At Pearson, For Now
For a while now Bernstein Research has been among the leaders of analysts calling for Pearson to sell off Penguin. In their facile reasoning, they’ve assumed that the trade publisher would be easy to sell at a premium price even though they believe it’s a laggard next to Pearson’s other assets. In a new report, they have concluded that “Pearson’s marriage to Penguin may have to last longer, just as the benefits of the relationship increasingly look questionable.” Again without any real foundation, they have decided that the Department of Justice’s ebook pricing investigation means that a potential sale of […]
Corporate: Macmillan New Ventures Buys EBI; Gallimard Last and Only Bidder for Flammarion
The sale of French publisher Flammarion by RCS appears to be down to a single contender, Les Echos reported, after bidding partners Albin Michel and Chequers Capital dropped out when they refused to increase their offer. The lone publishing house still in contention to buy Flammarion is Gallimard, which reportedly is working to raise their original offer of approximately 200 million euros. The RCS board of directors, which waffled its way into the sale offer in the first place, has indicated it might cancel the sale if the offer is not improved sufficiently–which is about the only tool available to them […]