Allison Devlin has been appointed sales director in client sales at Penguin Random House Publisher Services. Former literary manager at The Gotham Group Eddie Gamarra has been hired as vp studio business development for Nickelodeon. Legal A jury cleared Nicholas Sparks of all counts of defamation and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, concluding a long-running suit filed by Saul Benjamin, former headmaster of the North Carolina school founded by Sparks and his wife. In the suit, Benjamin accused Sparks of defaming him by claiming to others that he was mentally and/or physically ill, and terminating him because of […]
Finance
This Time It’s Real: CBS and Viacom to Merge, Simon & Schuster Changes Reporting Line
CBS and Viacom formally announced an agreement to merge on Tuesday, putting back together the two divisions that had split at the beginning 2006. Viacom ceo Robert Bakish will lead the combined company, with CBS acting ceo Joe Ianniello remaining in charge of the CBS unit. CBS shareholders will wind up owning about 61 percent of the new company, with Viacom’s shares valued at about $11 billion. When the two were split in 2006, Viacom was supposed to be the fast-growing unit and CBS was supposed to control the “mature” assets, including Simon & Schuster. The release announcing the deal […]
Children’s Books Win A Tariff Delay — For Now
In the Trump administration’s ever-changing policy on tariffs for goods imported from China, the United States Trade Representative announced on Tuesday a delay in imposing an additional 10 percent tariff on certain goods — including many electronics — until December 15. They also spared certain products entirely, “based on health, safety, national security and other factors.” “Children’s picture, drawing or coloring books” are on the list of goods that will not face additional tariffs until December 15 now, as are certain calendars (“printed on paper or paperboard in whole or in part by a lithographic process, not over 0.51 mm […]
Elliott Advisors Officially Acquires Barnes & Noble
August 6 was the closing date for the tender offer for Barnes & Noble shares, and Elliott Advisors reports that approximately 82 percent of all shares outstanding were tendered. Those shares — and with it the entire BN — are paid for today, August 7, and Barnes & Noble has officially become a “privately held, indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Elliott.” The bookseller’s shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange. In the announcement, Elliott reiterates that it “seeks to build upon this strong foundation as it addresses the significant challenges facing the bricks and mortar book retail […]
Odd Battle at Barnes & Noble Education Continues; B&N Retail Supplements Disclosure
The investor dispute over Barnes & Noble Education recorded another round of dueling press releases. Agitating investor Bay Capital Finance, which says it currently has beneficial ownership of a modest 25,000 shares in BNED, announced its intention to file a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC to solicit votes for the five people they want to nominate for election to the retailer’s board at the upcoming annual meeting. The record date for eligibility to vote at the annual meeting is July 29. Earlier this month, Bay Capital filed suit in Delaware to put forward their board nominees, after the company […]
Quad and LSC Terminate Merger Plan; LSC Gets $45 Million As Stock Plunges Further
Most publishers got what they wanted, for a change: Quad and LSC announced Tuesday morning that they have mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement rather than wait on the trial scheduled for mid-November in the DOJ’s antitrust suit seeking to block the deal. “The parties have determined that the added delay, uncertainty and cost of legal challenges would have likely eroded a considerable amount of the expected benefits of the merger.” The deal was first announced in late October 2018. As a result, Quad will pay their once-again rival and top competitor a $45 million break-up fee. And LSC […]