After a bidding war that included increased offers from both Chatham Asset Management and an unidentified “strategic party,” on Thursday RR Donnelly said it has accepted a revised bid by Atlas Holdings at $10.35 a share (or $856 million in cash for the equity). The proposed deal will be sent to a shareholder vote — though the market indicated it expects still more action. After the close of the market yesterday, Chatham announced another higher offer of $10.85 a share, though the bid expires on December 13. While the board has seemed inclined to pair with Atlas since accepting an […]
Finance
Vivendi Moves Up Timetable and Will Launch Tender Offer to Acquire Lagardere
Though Vivendi was previously awaiting regulatory approval from the French government for their acquisition of Amber Capital’s 17.5 percent stake in Lagardere — originally expecting the deal to close by December 15 — the company has decided it does not need to wait any longer. “Recent analyses carried out by Vivendi have led the company to consider that this acquisition could take place now since, in accordance with applicable rules on the control of concentrations.” Vivendi says it will not exercise the voting rights attached to Amber shares “until the approvals required for the acquisition of the control of Lagardère […]
UTA Launches SPAC; SAGE to Be Controlled By Trust
Privately-owned talent agency UTA has entered public markets by launching a special purpose acquisition company. The IPO raised $230 million with a plan “targeting businesses in the gaming, digital media, creator economy, entertainment and technology industries.” That’s ahead of an initial plan to raise $200 million. It trades as UTAAU on Nasdaq. Former Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime serves as chair. UTA’s Clinton Foy is co-CEO alongside Jamie Sharp, with UTA’s Ophir Lupu as president. Elsewhere in finance, founder and owner of academic publisher SAGE Sara Miller McCune has transferred her voting shares and control of the company to a trust, […]
Open Road Sold to Steinberger-Led Investor Group; Clarivate Completes ProQuest Buy
Founded in 2009 as a venture-capital backed ebook publisher and marketer, Open Road has been sold to an investor group led by former Arcadia Publishing and Perseus Book Group ceo David Steinberger, selling for “between $60 million and $80 million” according to the WSJ. Investors include private equity company Abry Partners, MEP Capital (which acquired Rosetta’s ebook catalog earlier this year), Grove Atlantic (which has worked with Open Road as a customer), and “a number of prominent individual investors from the worlds of publishing and finance” according to the press release. Paul Slavin, who took over as ceo in 2016 […]
Acquisitions for RBMedia, and Hachette UK
RBmedia has acquired Toronto-based Author’s Republic, a distribution platform for self-published audiobooks. The deal includes the company’s Novel Audio audiobook publishing imprint as well. (Novel Audio was originally Audiobooks.com Publishing, and changed its name after the Audiobooks.com retail site was sold to RBmedia’s predecessor. And RBmedia just sold Audiobooks.com to Storytel.) RBmedia says in the announcement that the two will “also provide audiobook creation tools, a narrator marketplace, and other functionality to enable self-published authors to produce and distribute their audiobooks to as many listeners as possible.” Separately, Hachette UK’s Hodder Education Group has acquired John Catt Educational.
Returns to Campus Lift BNED Sales, But Not to Pre-Pandemic Levels
Barnes & Noble Education’s second quarter earnings improved over last year, but still aren’t back to pre-pandemic levels (which were themselves on a declining trend — $772 million in 2019 and $815 million in 2018). On Tuesday morning, BNED reported results for their fiscal second quarter ending October 30, with sales of $627 million, compared to $595.5 million in last year’s quarter. Net income was $22.5 million, compared to $7.5 million last year. Retail sales increased by $32.4 million, or 5.6%, as compared to the prior year period, while comparable store sales were up 13.2 percent. General merchandise comparable sales […]