Scholastic announced preliminary results of their “modified Dutch auction” launched in late October to boost the company’s stock price. Authorized to buy up to $75 million in stock, approximately 534,000 shares were tendered and will be purchased at $40 a share — costing the company about $21.35 million. As a result, the stock now trades just above $41 a share on the open market. Also in finance, following the termination of Penguin Random House’s deal to acquire Simon & Schuster, Bertelsmann is planning to float €750 million in senior unsecured notes, which will be used in part to buy back […]
Finance
Charlesbridge Publishing Acquires Move Books
Charlesbridge Publishing has acquired Move Books, a children’s imprint with a “mission to move more boys to read with high-interest middle-grade fiction.” The deal includes Move backlist titles, which will be distributed under Charlesbridge starting April 2023. Going forward, the company will launch Move founder Eileen Robinson joined Charlesbridge in October as editorial director of Charlesbridge Moves, a new middle-grade imprint that will launch in 2024. Robinson will also edit board books and picture books for the Charlesbridge list as executive dditor. She said, “Charlesbridge Moves will excite middle-grade and chapter-book readers with adventure, mystery, and fun, giving them the […]
Storytel Gets Breathing Room With Capital Raise that Includes Otava As New Shareholder
Storytel has given itself a significant financial lift with a new share issue that raises approximately 400 million SEK (about $37 million) from its two largest shareholders — EQT Public Investment and Roxette Photo — while also bringing in Finnish media company and book publisher Otava as an investor. (In a separate announcement, Otava says they bought a 3.5 percent stake in the streaming media company, for about 125 million SEK.) Shares were priced at SEK 45.50. The board “believes [it] will strengthen the liquidity of the shares and be beneficial to the Company” and help “ensure a strong balance […]
PRH Acquires Remaining Stake in PRH Grupo Editorial Portugal
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial announced Friday it has agreed to purchase the remaining minority stake of 15.6% of PRH Grupo Editorial Portugal from Manuel de Freitas and his family. De Freitas had retained that share when selling the 20|20 Editora group to PRH in 2021. With that transaction, de Freitas leaves the company, where he served as general director. Editorial continues to be run by Clara Capitão, with Pedro Veiga Ferreira, as director of financial, logistics and systems director, both reporting to Patxi Beascoa.
Scholastic Boosts Their Slumping Stock with $75 Million Buyback
Scholastic has lifted their depressed stock price with an announcement Monday of a $75 million share purchase program through a modified Dutch Auction. The offer opens on Tuesday, October 25 and is scheduled to close by November 22, and will buy back shares at an expected price of between $35 and $40 a share. (On Friday, shares had closed at $33.63 a share.) The company says it is able to finance the buyback through cash on hand. The market has responded as expected, pushing shares up by over $4 a share in the first hour of trading on Monday, though […]
Imprints: Erewhon, Golden Notebook
Kensington Publishing has acquired sci-fi/fantasy publisher Erewhon Books, which will continue as an imprint of Kensington. Publisher Sarah Guan and her team will stay with the line. (Co-founder Liz Gorinsky left Erewhon in March.) Having recently moved distributed to PGW from Workman, Erewhon’s titles will be taken over by Kensington’s distributor Penguin Random House Publisher Services next year. Kensington CEO Steve Zacharius says in the announcement, “The diverse, high-quality list Erewhon has built and the level of support they’ve been able to offer their authors as a small, but effective and passionate team is impressive. It also very much aligns […]