As predicted last week, Quarto has set a special meeting date for November 7 on the dissident shareholder call to remove Laurence Orbach and replace him with Tim Chadwick. The company’s board has recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal, and that is how board member-controlled stock comprising 15.2 percent of shares (mostly Orbach’s) will vote. The board says that “during a radical period of adjustment in the book publishing industry, the company has managed to build a successful and growing business.” They endorse their own “clear, well thought-out and well-received succession plan,” under which recently-hired coo Marcus Leaver will […]
Finance
Poindexter Says Penguin Suit Was “The Last Straw” In Deciding to Sell MacAdam/Cage
We expected that there were some dots to be connected between Penguin’s suit against MacAdam/Cage over the ebook publication of Susan Vreeland’s Girl With Hyacinth Blue, and MacAdam/Cage founder and owner David Poindexter has now confirmed that in a reply to our queries. Poindexter was in contact with Penguin’s attorney last week regarding the suit, filed June 20, and was told “they do intend to proceed with the suit.” Poindexter says by e-mail, “This was the last straw that made me decide to sell. There are many, many good people in publishing, but I have had my fill of the […]
MacAdam/Cage Puts Itself Up For Sale
After years of financial trouble San Francisco-based independent publisher MacAdam/Cage is up for sale. Founder and publisher David Poindexter indicated to Shelf Awareness the 14-year-old company “doesn’t have the resources to continue publishing properly for the long term” and that the ideal purchaser would be “someone like myself 15 years ago, with the drive, commitment and resources who wants to get involved in the literary landscape in America on the publishing side” and who could take over “where we leave off.” The sale announcement comes one week after we reported on a June 20 lawsuit filed by Penguin against MacAdam/Cage […]
VBK To Become Independent; United Agents Negotiates to Acquire AP Watt
There are two big international publishing developments. Dutch and Belgian publishing conglomerate Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) will become an independent company, owned by management and staff, on November 1, buying their freedom from the NDC|VBK Publishing Group. ING Bank is supplying some of the financing and will hold a minority interest in the company. VBK was formed in 2001 with the merger of Peat Publishers Group and Bosch & Keuning, and they merged with Northern Daily Combination (NDC) in 2005. Their units include Ambo Anthos, Atlas-Contact, De Fontein, Kok Ten Have, and Luitingh-Sijthoff, and comprise all of NDC/VBK’s trade publishing […]
People, Etc.
At ICM Partners, Kristyn Keene and Kari Stuart have both been promoted to agent. Keene joined the agency in 2006; Stuart has been with ICM for seven years. Alistair Burtenshaw, who left his positions at Reed Exhibitions earlier this month, will move up to chair of charity Booktrust (where he has served as deputy chair since 2008). The Smoking Gun highlights multiple lawsuits filed recently by Penguin to recover advances from authors who the publisher says never delivered their manuscripts. The suits look to recover advances and interest from: New Yorker staff writer Rebecca Mead $20,000, for a 2003 deal […]
Aspiring Quarto Director Criticizes Company As Vote Nears
The special meeting called for in July by two large shareholders in Quarto Group will be announced shortly, Sky News reports. They have been “leaked” a letter from Tim Chadwick, who the two dissenting owners–confirmed to include The Wellcome Trust (and 9.7 percent owner), and thus by elimination J.O. Hambro Capital Management (a 9.5 percent owner)–want to appoint to the board while removing chairman and ceo Laurence Orbach. Chadwick is said to insist that Quarto sell or close “all loss-making, relatively risky, or unproven activities and [use] the net proceeds to accelerate debt repayment.” He laments that the publishers’ “results […]