One more story on the economy: New York’s budget division has recommended to the governor a $20 million cut in library support as part of proposed statewide reductions of expenses. That represents abou 20 percent of the currently allocated $99 million, a number already slimmed by $4 million from the 2007 allocation. The NY Library Association says the proposal “would bring library aid down to a level not seen since 1993.” Executive director Michael Borges says in a statement that “no other educational institutions have been targeted for a 20 percent cut in state funding. There seems to be no […]
Finance
How Badly Does Reed Need RBI Sale?
The longer the auction for the Reed Business Information goes on, the more the reported price drops, as the economy continues to slide. The latest rumor in the British media has the offering prices heading below 1 billion pounds, against an initial valuation of at least 1.25 billion pounds. The three bidders left are Bain Capital, TPG and Strauss Zelnick. One person involved in the deal tells the FT, “Reed Elsevier won’t sell at any price but buyers can’t ignore what they are hearing and seeing in the marketplace.” Plus, “Just how much below £1bn remains to be seen.” But […]
Update on Efforts to Unlock Borders UK's Financing
The Independent says “Borders UK is still trying to extricate itself from the fall out from the troubles of Landsbanki, the nationalized Icelandic bank” after “last Friday, a number of companies, particularly retailers, found they could not withdraw money from their Landsbanki accounts.” Chairman of the private equity firm that owns the bookseller Luke Johnson says that “We are never more than £3m to £4m drawn on our [continuing] credit facility” but “declined to comment on the other questions put to him.” Additionally, “Euler Hermes is understood to have scaled back its insurance cover for Borders UK in the summer, […]
CBS Stock Price Plummets on Charge and Sell-Off; Border UK in Loan Trouble?
CBS issued revised guidance to investors on Friday afternoon, forecasting “a decline of mid-teens” in operating income for fiscal 2008 compared to a year ago. They also said they expect to take a $14 billion impairment charge in the third quarter “to reduce the carrying value of goodwill, intangible assets related to FCC licenses and investments.” Earlier in the day, Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements announced that it will sell $400 million in equal amounts of Viacom and CBS shares in order reduce debt and comply with their credit agreements. The proceeds will bring the company’s debt load down to $1.2 […]
Lunch for Wednesday, May 28
McLellan’s Book Criticizes Bush Former White House press secretary Scott McLellan’s book WHAT HAPPENED: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception makes headlines after Politico and then the NYT purchased embargoed copies in advance of next week’s release. Politico calls it a “surprisingly scathing memoir” that says Bush “veered terribly off course” and was not “open and forthright on Iraq.” President Bush “convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment” and has engaged in “self-deception,” the NYT writes, and he says “White House officials deceived him about the administration’s involvement in the leaking of […]