France’s second-largest publisher Editis — bought by Vivendia from Planeta earlier this year — is in exclusive negotiations to acquire L’Archipel. (Generally speaking, these exclusive negotiations lead to a formal acquisition, and the parties speak about it as a done deal in their press release.) L’Archipel will remain under the direction of founder and president Jean-Daniel Belfond, who would report to Editis ceo Pierre Conte. Created in 1991, L’Archipel has a backlist of over 2,500 titles. In the machine-translated release, Belfond says, “The support of Editis, with a preserved autonomy, will allow us to devote ourselves fully to what drives […]
Finance
Briefs: Germany’s KNV Sold, Scribd Minis, Rebel Girls Imprint, PRH UK Pulls Book
Bankrupt German book wholesaler KNV (Koch, Neff and Volckmar) was auctioned by the trustee to Berlin-based privately owned logistics company Zeitfracht. The sale price was not disclosed, but the creditors’ committees have approved the purchase agreement. Zeitfracht says it will retain all employees — approximately 1,600 jobs — and continue to operate KNV’s three locations. Press release Subscription service Scribd is formally rolling out Snapshots (which launched in beta in February), “designed to offer key insights of a book in about 15 minutes to spark subscribers’ interest in reading the book in its entirety.” It’s “the literary equivalent of a […]
Barnes & Noble Education Has Weak Finish to Another Poor Year
If you want to feel better about the Barnes & Noble retail stores, look no further than the consistent underperformance of Barnes & Noble Education — which was always supposed to be the growth side of the business, except that it keeps declining. Fourth quarter sales were below even the reduced guidance from March: Revenue of $334.4 million decreased $23 million, or 6.5 percent compared, compared to a year ago. They had a net loss of $(46.2) million in the quarter — driven by a non-cash loss of $(57.8) million, primarily due to goodwill impairment on their retail and wholesale […]
F+W Communities Sell for $7.45 Million
The bankruptcy auction for F+W Media’s 10 communities has yielded a total of $7.45 million, with the winning bids going before the court for approval later on Monday. Niche magazine publisher Cruz Bay Publishing, a subsidiary of the sizable Active Interest Media, is paying a total of $1.725 million to acquire the writing community, which comprises Writer’s Digest (bought for $200,000), as well as the woodworking, family tree, horticulture. and collectibles communities. The signature crafts community is being sold for $2.85 million to Macanta Investments. As we reported last week, Penguin Random House paid $3 million in cash plus percentages […]
Waiting for Readerlink, Investor Agitates and Barnes & Noble Shares Ebb
In the absence of real news about bidding for Barnes & Noble, agitator and modest BN investor Richard Schottenfeld filed paperwork with the SEC in which he asks for a better price than the $6.50 a share deal with Elliott Advisors. The stake controlled by Schottenfeld and related investors is down to under 2.5 million shares, or about 3.4 percent of the company. The statement expresses “the view that the Company is worth considerably more than the agreed-upon sale price,” and they “believe that the special committee, including its Chairman, Mark Carlton, has failed in its duty to maximize value […]
PRH Pays Modestly for F+W Books
Paperwork filed with the bankruptcy court overseeing the sale of F+W Media’s assets shows that Penguin Random House won the F+W Books list with a modest bid. They are paying $3 million at closing, with subsequent payments due equal to 70 percent of recent accounts receivable, plus 15 percent of the value of the printed inventory. PRH also assumes a limited set of liabilities and obligations to the assigned contracts, but only for on or after the closing of the deal. (That suggests that items like unpaid author royalties earned prior to the sale remain at the back of the […]