Houghton parent company Education Media is hardly the only overindebted conglomerate with book publishing interests. This morning Spanish media group Prisa said it would sell a 25 percent stake in book publisher Grupo Santillana for approximately $362 million. The buyer is Credit Suisse-run private equity firm DLJ South American Partners. Spain’s biggest media company, Prisa carries debt of over 5 billion euros, so the sale of the Santillana stake will have little overall impact. Santillana is “one of Prisa’s most profitable units,” the WSJ notes, adding that “the fact that Prisa is selling off part of such a lucrative unit […]
Finance
Business Briefs: Quercus Still Losing Money; Hachette Can't Sell Chambers Harrap; MacAdam/Cage Hopes Money Troubles Will Ease by November
Riding a strong run for Stieg Larsson, the UK’s Quercus said sales for the first six months were up by more than 50 percent to 5.55 million pounds–but they still lost over 260,000 pounds. Chief executive Mark Smith tells the Bookseller they are almost paying authors on time now: “We’re pretty much there with catching up with [the agents]. We have made great headway in dealing with that issue.”Report Also in the UK, after failing to sell dictionary line Chambers Harrap, Hachette is closing the units Edinburgh office and eliminate up to 27 jobs, the Bookseller reports. They will merge […]
World Almanac Sold
The Weekly Reader Publishing Group, a division of Readers Digest since 2007, has sold the World Almanac imprint to Infobase Publishing, for undisclosed terms. Infobase president Mark McDonnell says in the announcement, “There are few names in reference publishing as well-known as the World Almanac, so when we had opportunity to add it to our existing family of imprints, we moved quickly. The World Almanac has been and will continue to be a powerful name in reference publishing, and we are excited about bringing it forward as an online resource as well.” Infobase’s imprints include Facts On File and Chelsea […]
More B&N News: Shareholders Sue Over College Deal; New Program to Republish Out-of-Print Titles
A group of Barnes & Noble shareholders, led by the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees Retirement System, has filed suit in a Delaware Chancery court to block the retailer’s proposed purchase of privately-owned Barnes & Noble College. The plaintiffs allege breach of fiduciary duty by the company and its directors. Shareholders are concerned that the deal lacks transparency in not providing more historical financial data on the College retailer; pays Len Riggio more than another buyer would; reduces BN”s working capital; and represents an investment in a segment that is in “permanent decline.”Courthouse News Separately, in a complex posting about the […]
Houghton Parent Avoids Bankruptcy Risk By Refinancing $1 Billion–At Big Cost to Equity Holders
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s corporate parent Education Media & Publishing Group has successfully refinanced more than $1 billion of their big debt load of $7.6 billion–but current shareholders face a dilution of about 45 percent as that debt is converted to equity. The financier who built this mountain of debt Barry O’Callaghan will see his own stake of 40 percent cut nearly in half and will lose his voting control. The company will save about $100 million in interest.FT The FT also reports today that HMH will forgo renewed attempts to sell its consumer book arm in the hopes of bolstering […]
Wall Street Sours on BN's Purchase of Barnes & Noble College
On Friday sentiment among traders continued to turn against Barnes & Noble’s intended purchase of Barnes & Noble College from Len Riggio with the retailer’s stock down more than 9 percent for the day. First the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column voiced a number of concerns, including limited disclosure about what kind of results the public company is purchasing: “As for earnings, B&N has provided only numbers for the year to May with no history or projections. Shareholders deserve to know whether the college chain’s earnings are declining. B&N says it will disclose more when the deal […]