Expanding on a joint venture created in the middle of last year, F+W Media has acquired The Martha Pullen Company, an ecommerce provider, event producer, and content company in the sewing and craft category, from Hoffman Media. Ceo David Nussbaum says in the release, “This is an important strategic acquisition for F+W, as we move more directly into the hard goods product fulfillment arena by offering these goods through our ecommerce stores. Now with the addition of a wealth of sewing information, instruction, and materials we can more fully serve the craft enthusiast community…. The acquisition represents our largest ecommerce […]
Finance
Fidelity Takes A 10 Percent Stake In Barnes & Noble, Too
Shares of Barnes & Noble’s stock are increasingly being accumulated by a small number of holders, as Fidelity disclosed on Tuesday that their Fidelity OTC Portfolio unit had acquired over 6 million shares in the bookseller, or just under 10 percent of shares outstanding, as of December 31. Following the morning’s news of a 5 percent investment by Dimensional Fund Advisors, the company’s stock rose steadily during the trading day on heavy volume. After starting the day in the red, shares closed up over 9 percent, rising to $14.49. Ironically that brought the stock back up to almost exactly where […]
People, Etc.
At Tor/Forge, Alexis Nixon has been promoted to publicist and Leah Withers moves up to associate publicist. In addition, Cassie Ammerman, most recently publicist, has been named digital marketing manager for the imprint. At Kids Can Press, Yvette Ghione has been promoted to editorial director and Karen Li moves up to senior editor. In addition, Allison MacLachlan has been named assistant, brands & new business. Barnes & Noble romance buyer Jules Herbert will contribute monthly recommendations and point to store promotions and other offers on Random House’s romance website Romance@Random, the site spearheaded by former Borders romance buyer Sue Grimshaw. […]
Dimension Fund Advisors Bets on Bookstores, Discloses 5 Percent Stakes in BN and BAMM
Wall Street analysts may hold a dim view of the prospects for bookstores, but that hasn’t stopped Dimension Fund Advisors, an Austin, TX-based hedge fund that manages more than $213 billion in investments, from making a bet on the big chains. On Tuesday DFA disclosed a 5.45 percent stake, or about 3.2 million shares, in Barnes & Noble, as of December 31, 2011, as well as a 5.76 percent stake, or about 911,000 shares, in Books-A-Million. (Barnes & Noble traded higher in late 2011 than it does now; Books-a-Million is up slightly since then.) Bear in mind that these represent […]
UK Conglomerate Acquires Aptara for $150 Million, and More Corporate News
Washington, DC-area-based Aptara has been acquired for an enterprise value of approximately $150 million by iEnergizer Limited, a public conglomerate listed on the London Stock Exchange, with “wide-ranging investments in business process outsourcing, oil and gas, and real estate.” ($5 million of the purchase price will be held in escrow for 12 months.) iEnergizer is funding the acquision primarily through a new $114 million short-term loan facility. As of a year ago (the end of 2010), Aptara had revenues of $66 million and operating profit of $10.1 million. iEnergizer board chair Sara Latham says in the announcement, “As the only […]
Harper’s Nelson Purchase Still Awaits Government Review
Just to update your acquisition closing calendars, we note that the finalization of HarperCollins’ agreement to purchase Thomas Nelson is taking longer than originally projected. When the deal was announced at the end of the October, the parties indicated the deal was “expected to close by the end of the calendar year” while stipulating that it “is subject to regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.” All indications are that the delay is due to waiting on government signoff rather than any other deal-related issues. Harper spokesperson Erin Crum indicates, “We are still undergoing the regulatory review period, but we […]