HarperCollins announced Monday afternoon it “has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Thomas Nelson for an undisclosed sum.” (The deal is of sufficient scale that the purchase amount will be disclosed in a quarterly report from Harper parent News Corp. after it is finalized.) The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the calendar year, and combining Nelson with Harper’s Zondervan unit would create a sizeable Christian publishing division. Harper ceo Brian Murray says in the release, “HarperCollins’ global print and digital publishing platform, which includes e-book distribution into more than 175 markets, print-on-demand, digital-to-print at retail, […]
Finance
Struggling Eichborn Is Bought by Luebbe
Germany’s Eichborn Verlag, which has endured a year of troubles and transition, is being sold to privately-owned Bastei Luebbe. Owner and publisher Stefan Luebbe says in the announcement, “Eichborn also has great authors and a strong reputation for unconventional, off the beaten track iconic books. Both companies share a belief in the creative power of authors, editors and marketing. Together, we will be in an enviable position to face future challenges as a major independent media force.” Luebbe sold 30 million euros of bonds recently, though the publisher said the borrowings were unrelated to any acquisitions. Die Welt says that […]
Bookselling: OFT Clears Amazon/Book Depository Merger; St. Mark’s Rent Won’t Be Reduced; and More
As some of us expected, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading has cleared the way for Amazon’s proposed acquisition of The Book Depository. The OFT said that according to the evidence it received, The Book Depository only accounted for “between two to four per cent of online retailing of hard-copy books,” and as such didn’t qualify as a “significant source of competitive rivalry to Amazon.” Further, the OFT added, “the evidence indicated that competition within Amazon Marketplace would continue to be strong post-merger, for a wide range of book titles.” As to whether the merger would reduce competition in “deep-range” […]
Harper Acquires Newmarket Press List
HarperCollins has acquired “the majority of titles” published by Esther Margolis’s Newmarket Press. The publisher’s list comprises over 200 books on film (particularly screenplays and “making of” books that tie in to award-winning movies), theater, and performing arts, as well as over 100 titles on parenting, psychology, health, biography, history, and business as well as some fiction. The only titles not included in the agreement are inactive ones that will revert back to the rightsholders. At one point, HarperCollins had served as Newmarket’s distributor. Margolis, who started Newmarket in 1981, will join Harper’s It Books as an executive editor. She […]
Accounting Gift Provides Borders With One Month of Profit
Borders’ latest monthly operating report is testimony to the value of gift cards for any bookseller. In its final month of liquidation the company was able to book the value of all unredeemed gift cards–worth $156.2 million. Thanks to that gift of accounting, they recorded an operating profit for the first time…in a long time. Net income for the month was $66.1 million.
McGraw-Hill Misses Estimates, As K-12 Sales Are Hit
McGraw-Hill reported sales and earnings below expectations and pared back their full-year earnings forecast this morning. Sales at McGraw-Hill Education, which will be kicked out of the corporate nest next year to stand on its own, fell 11.1 percent, to $937 million. Adjusted operating profit fell by the same percentage, at $314.7 million. The decline came almost entirely from the School Education group in particular, where declining state textbook adoptions drove a 21.4 percent drop in sales to $420.4 million. Higher ed and professional sales were “essentially flat.”