The DOJ plans to approve the merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill, if the companies agree to divest some overlapping assets, unnamed sources told the NY York Post. “There’s going to be a deal. The parties are doing the work so they understand the package that needs to be offered,” the source said. “Any areas of overlap,” such as business textbooks, “will have to be sold to get Justice’s stamp of approval, sources added.” A representative for the companies declined to comment on the story. According to the companies’ financials, before any divestitures the combined entity would have $3.16 billion in […]
Finance
Australian Antitrust Commission Has Some Concerns About Cengage McGraw-Hill Merger
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a 17-page statement of issues regarding the planned merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill, the result of a review begun in September. The report outlines two primary “preliminary concerns”: First, that the merger will result in “higher prices, reduced quality or a more limited product range for students in Australia”; and second, that it will “further reduce the already limited number of major publishers with whom higher education authors can publish their works.” Interested parties have until January 20 to submit comments and information, with a final decision due from the commission March […]
People, Etc.
Todd Noden has been promoted to president at Books-a-Million. He was chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and now he adds leadership of the company’s store operations group to his other responsibilities. James Meader left his position as vp, associate publisher at Picador last week and will join Vintage Anchor on December 16 as executive director of publicity and social media, reporting to Suzanne Herz. Register of Copyrights Karyn Temple will leave her position on January 3 to join the Motion Picture Association of America as global general counsel. At Scholastic Trade, Zachary Clark becomes senior editor. Rachel Matson […]
People, Etc.
Daniel Loedel will join Bloomsbury as senior editor, starting on January 6. He was at Scribner. Catherine Tung is now an associate editor at Beacon Press. She was an assistant editor at Vintage. Mary Gaule has been promoted to associate editor for Harper and Harper Perennial. Megha Majumdar was promoted to editor at Catapult. Associate publisher, sales & marketing at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Jenn Abel Kovitz announced on Twitter that she is leaving the company in mid-January. The Gernert Company has opened a West Coast office in Culver City. Seth Fishman is managing the new office after three years in Los […]
People, Etc.
Cecelia Cancellaro, founder of Word Creative Literary Services, will join Cambridge University Press in early December as senior editor in US and Latin American history, based in New York. Awards In the UK, the Costa Book Awards announced its shortlists in five categories. Sara Collins’ The Confessions of Frannie Langton, a finalist for the first novel prize, is excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 Fall/Winter sampler. Other nominees include: Novel Middle England, by Jonathan Coe (Knopf/Viking) Confession with Blue Horses, by Sophie Hardach (Head of Zeus) Starling Days, by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (Sceptre) Shadowplay, by Joseph O’Connor (Harvill Secker) […]
Yet Again, Springer Nature Said to Hope for An IPO
The various private equity companies that have traded educational publisher Springer for more than a decade now have hoped for an offering of shares to the public since at least 2012 if not earlier, both to help pay down a persistent debt load and to provide a pathway to an exit. The current incarnation of the company, the Springer Nature joint venture, came close to pulling it off in 2018 — but the offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell apart at the last minute. At first they reduced the share price and had 53-percent partner Holtzbrinck step in to […]