Late last week, French billionaire Bernard Arnault bought a 5 percent stake in the publicly-traded shares of Lagardere, signaling the strength of his commitment to supporting ceo Arnaud Lagardere as a majority of shareholders seek to shake up the board and management of the company. Earlier this year Arnault helped shore up Mr. Lagardere financially, acquiring a 25 percent stake in the privately-owned holding company that controls Lagardere. A Vivendi spokesman said the firm was “very happy” that Bernard Arnault had become a direct Lagardere shareholder, Reuters reported. (This will only fuel speculation from earlier this year that the ultimate […]
Finance
Hollywood Trade Publications Merge In New Joint Venture
The parent company of Variety, Deadline and other trade magazines will take over management of competitor The Hollywood Reporter (as well as Billboard and other publications) as part of two joint ventures announced Wednesday. Penske Media (PMC) will run daily operations of the magazine conglomerate, while their one-time rival MRC will run a separate joint venture to exploit the brands and intellectual property across the two portfolios, “including television, film, live and alternative and nonfiction.” (Update: What was touted as a joint venture turned out to be an acquisition: Penske is reported to be paying $225 million to buy an […]
As Qatar Switches Sides, A Majority of Shareholders Seek to Reseat Lagardere’s Board
Lagardere’s third-largest shareholder Qatar Holding indicated support for major dissidents Amber Capital and Vivendi in giving owners of the stock a meaningful stake in the company’s governance. While the statement issued Tuesday night in a “rare public incursion” from the Qatar Investment Authority stopped short of explicitly backing the push for a special shareholder meeting that is headed to court, the fund deems it “legitimate that all significant shareholders be fairly represented.” Together, Amber and Vivendi control 41.5 percent of shares, and Qatar owns a 13 percent stake, giving them a majority of the stock. CEO Arnaud Lagardere owns just […]
Atlas Group Is the Winning Bidder to Purchase LSC’s Assets
LSC Communications announced the results of their bankruptcy auction today, a purchase agreement for “substantially all the company’s assets” with an affiliate of private equity investor Atlas Holdings for $63.4 million in cash and the assumption of “certain specified liabilities,” including the company pension plan. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, pending approval by the bankruptcy court. There is a sale hearing scheduled for tomorrow. Atlas owns 21 manufacturing and distribution businesses, including paper producers Finch and Twin Rivers. Atlas had been the “stalking horse” bidder. LSC ceo Thomas J. Quinlan III says in the announcement, […]
LSC to Close An Indiana Book Printing Plant
With the bankruptcy auction for LSC’s assets underway, at the beginning of this month the company filed notice with the Indiana state government that they will close the former Courier book printing facility in Kendallville, “due to the continued deterioration of market conditions” for four-color higher ed textbooks and “in response to current and expected volumes produced in our 4 color platform.” All 307 jobs at the plant will be eliminated, starting October 1 and finishing by December 23. The offset manufacturing plant is a “predominately trade and educational book, and bible manufacturing operation,” and at one time employed 700 […]
Corporate: Early Retirement At HMH, and Judge Throws Out Parneros’s Defamation Claim Against BN
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced that 166 employees — five percent of the company’s workforce — opted to participate in a voluntary early retirement incentive program, which had first been announced August 6 in the company’s quarterly report. The program was offered to all US-based employees who are at least 55 years old and have at least five years of service, comprising about 18 percent of the workforce. For the majority of employees who elected to leave, the decision was effective September 4, though a few are leaving later in the year. According to the SEC filing, the total one-time cash […]