It took Australia’s leading online bookseller Booktopia years to pull off a public offering of shares in late 2020 — and in retrospect, it probably never should have done so. Shares have been sinking since last summer, accelerated by their surprise warning of low profits expected for the current year in early May. Since late August 2021, the company’s market cap has evaporated, going from $411 million (AU) down to about $26 million now. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a long “investigation.” While they note that, “In recent weeks, Booktopia has been laying off staff through redundancy rounds” — and […]
Finance
Acquisitions: Spectrum Publishing Buys Odd Portal Studios
Spectrum Publishing has acquired sci-fi and fantasy publisher Odd Portal Studios. Spectrum owner Kelly Rinne said, “Everyone here at Spectrum is excited about this acquisition. We have a solid foundation of science fiction and fantasy titles, and I look forward to expanding our roster of talented authors and narrators in these genres.”
Bloomsbury Reports Record Sales, Profits
Bloomsbury announced results for fiscal year 2022, ending February 28, reporting its highest ever sales and profit. Sales were £230 million, up 24 percent from last year and 41 percent from 2020. Profit before tax was £22.2 million, up from £17.3 million last year. Recent acquisitions, led by Head of Zeus, accounted for £17 million of the increased sales, with “organic” sales up 15 percent for the year. “Both the Consumer and Non-Consumer divisions gave outstanding and resilient performances, highlighting Bloomsbury’s unique strength in combining general and academic publishing,” ceo Nigel Newton said. “Bloomsbury plans to invest robustly in continued […]
Pearson Sells K-12 Businesses in Italy and Germany
Pearson announced that it has sold its K-12 courseware (e.g. textbook) businesses in Italy and Germany to European learning services company Sanoma Corporation, for £163 million in cash. Sanoma will also handle Italian distribution of Pearson’s English Language Teaching products. In 2021, the Italian and German textbook businesses generated sales of about £90 million and adjusted operating profit of about £9 million, the company said in a release. The sale price reflects an enterprise value multiple of 15.5x, they noted. Pearson has done better with their international K-12 textbook lines than they did in the US, where they practically gave […]
Little Group Acquires B&T UK
The Little Group, which owns wholesaler Gardners, has purchased Baker & Taylor UK from ceo Amandeep Kochar, The Bookseller reports. A private investment group led by Kochar bought what remained of B&T last fall. B&T UK will continue operating with its own name, and no staff changes are planned. Executive chairman Gareth Powell and managing director Annette Burgess will remain on the board. “We are pleased to welcome Baker & Taylor UK to the group, complementing our offer to the UK and international book markets, and we look forward to building on this to provide even better services in the […]
Vivendi Owns 55 Percent of Lagardere Following First Tender
Vivendi and Lagardere confirmed in separate releases that approximately 11 million shares in Lagardere were tendered during the first round of Vivendi’s buyout offer, giving it 55.43 percent of the share capital in Lagardere. A second round of the main tender offer opens May 27 and closes on June 9, still at the offer price of 25 euros a share. Thereafter, during a subsidiary period until the end of 2023, shareholders can tender their stock for the lower price of 24.10 euros a share. (They will still receive dividends during that time until shares are tendered; the higher, early offer […]