Lagardere has enlisted another billionaire to keep the company and its controlling owner solvent during the pandemic. Longtime family friend Bernard Arnault’s investment firm Groupe Arnault has agreed to buy 25 percent of Lagardère Capital & Management, the holding company of Arnaud Lagardere. Arnault is reportedly paying less than €100 million for the stake. LCM…
Finance
Bertrams Confirmed Up For Sale, Ahead of Bankruptcy Filing
In line with previous reports, the Bookseller reports — based on an ad submitted to the publication — that UK wholesaler Bertrams (and its subsidiaries Dawson Books and Education Umbrella) has been put up for sale. It’s being offered by Middleton Barton Valuation (MBV), a restructuring firm. Earlier in the month, the Sunday Times had…
People, Etc.
At Macmillan Children’s, Morgan Kane has been promoted to assistant director, publicity; Justin Krasner to senior editor of Odd Dot; Rachel Murray to associate editor at Holt Children’s; and Jessica Chung to junior designer. Daniel Ehrenhaft is leaving Soho Teen to devote more time to the nonprofit WAAC and to explore new opportunities in service of…
Walker/Candlewick Sold to Trustbridge Partners
Walker Books Group, whose divisions include Candlewick Press in the US, has been sold to China-based Trustbridge Global Media (a unit of private equity firm Trustbridge Partners). Walker had been the largest employee- and creator-owned publishing company. (The ownership had included more than 75 employees, and over 150 authors and illustrators.) In recent years, Trustbridge…
Moody’s Expects Bertelsmann’s Sales to Fall 15 Percent and Not Fully Rebound Until 2022
Moody’s downgraded their ratings on Bertelsmann’s debt to Baa2, but they improved their outlook for the company from negative to stable. While Bertelsmann did not provide any guidance for the year in their recent first-quarter trading update, Moody’s forecasts that full-year sales will fall 15 percent, and that EBITDA “could decrease by around 30 percent.”…
People, Etc.
Marta Fleming has been promoted to director of international rights at Macmillan, working on St. Martin’s, Flatiron, Tor/Forge, and Celadon Books. At St. Martin’s Publishing Group, Courtney Littler becomes senior editor, focusing on Castle Point Books and the Griffin Puzzle Program, and Joe Goldschein has been promoted to vp, marketing & sales operations. At Macmillan…