Books-A-Million’s original plans to buy as many as 35 stores from Borders fell through in July, but now the two retailers are trying again – albeit for a smaller number of stores this time. Documents filed in federal bankruptcy court late Wednesday indicate that BAMM has reached a deal for $934,209 to buy 14 superstores and small format stores from Borders, as well as assume responsibility for the leases. That amount comprises $184,209 to pay for cure costs to the landlords (which BAMM would pay upon the deal closing) and $750,000 for the stores and lease agreements themselves. The deal […]
Finance
With Writedowns, Borders Loses $328 Million In July
Borders filed their monthly operating report for July with the bankruptcy court, reporting sales of $94.7 million and other revenue of $57.5 million for the month. Regular SGA expenses were $38.2 million, but they took two large writedowns–one against “all long-lived assets,” for $135.2 million, plus the fully-loaded “cost” of the merchandise sold was $284.7 million (or $132.5 million more than sales for the month). All told, they recorded an operating loss of $305.9 million on their books for the month, and a total net loss of $328.2 million. Filing
Jana Partners Outlines Its Idea of a McGraw-Hill Breakup
Hedge fund Jana Partners, which built a 5.2 percent stake in McGraw-Hill along with the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, disclosed earlier this month, indicated in an SEC filing on Monday exactly how it would like McGraw-Hill to function going forward. (Their combined holdings in the company also rose to 5.6 percent, according to the new filing.) Specifically, as outlined in a Powerpoint presentation given to McGraw-Hill’s board of directors earlier in the day, Jana wants the company to break itself up into four separate companies: Education, Information & Media, and two entities for S&P and its indices. “While the announcements […]
Liberty Media Invests $204 Million in Barnes and Noble For a 16.6 Percent Stake
A day after rumors swirled that Liberty Media had stepped back from buying a 70 percent stake in Barnes & Noble, the bookseller announced Thursday afternoon that Liberty had invested an aggregate of $204 million, through the purchase of newly issued convertible preferred stock, which can be converted into 12 million shares of common stock. The purchase was for the same $17 a share as the original buyout offer – now abandoned – and Liberty will receive a quarterly dividend at an annual rate of 7.75 percent. Under the deal, which closes today, and subject to the waiting period under anti-trust […]
McGraw-Hill Exploring Separation of Education Business
For years investors have disapproved of McGraw-Hill’s portfolio, which folds the S&P Credit Ratings Agency, Education, and other unrelated businesses under the same umbrella. Recent share pickups by activist hedge fund Jana Partners in tandem with the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund heightened calls for the company to break up, sell, or spin off some of its divisions – especially the education side, the largest group within the company. The WSJ first reported, with other outlets following with their own unnamed sources or “people briefed on the matter” that McGraw-Hill retained investment bank Evercore Partners to advise the company on a […]
Legal News: Another Appeals Case Rules First Sale Doctrine Is US-Only; ‘The Shack’ Lawsuit Finally Settled
Just a few weeks after the Ninth Circuit ruled in a case featuring Costco’s sale of imported Omega watches that the first sale doctrine does not apply to imported goods, another ruling this week from the Second Circuit more forcefully confirms this conclusion – and this time it involves book sales. In a 2-1 decision, the court said Supap Kirtsaeng violated Wiley’s copyrights when he sold cheap foreign editions of the publishers’ textbooks in the US because first sale doctrine does not apply to books sold outside of the country. Any other conclusion would undercut a law already on the books […]