Barnes & Noble is previewing their new “Nobody Knows Books Like We Do” holiday video ads, to be featured on cable TV and movie screens. The general ads are available on their YouTube channel, but they have yet to post what sound like the most interesting spots: A collection of 15-second videos “that celebrate the company’s remarkable 23,000 booksellers who make shopping at Barnes & Noble a one-of-a-kind experience.” CMO Tim Mantel says in the announce, “Our bookstores are cherished community centers where people go to aspire to learn more about the world around them and discover something new. This […]
Finance
WH Smith Was The Potential Barnes & Noble Buyer
The WSJ names the “book retailer” that made offers to buy Barnes & Noble last spring that fell apart on June 19, as described in Demos Parneros’s defamation and breach of contract lawsuit against the retailer, and the company’s answer to those charges and countersuit. “People familiar with the situation say it was WH Smith PLC, a UK retailer that sells books, stationery and other products.” Though the Journal does not mention it, that makes sense contextually given where WH Smith turned next: Their deal announced October 31 to acquire US travel electronics retailer InMotion for $198 million. In announcing […]
Dark Horse Sells Stake to Chinese Investor; Former Bonnier Execs Launch New Publisher; Even Kobe Bryant Is A Publisher Now
Dark Horse Comics founder and ceo Mike Richardson sold a substantial stake in the company — for what one report suggests was about $20 million — to Hong-Kong based Vanguard Visionary Assets, associated with former Walt Disney Company in Greater China chairman Stanley Cheung. Cheung joins the five-person Dark Horse Entertainment board. Richardson declined to say he retained a majority share, saying he retained a “large chunk” of the company. He said Vanguard had invested “into a number of areas, including a stock purchase… a development fund and a film fund,” with “investment in the publishing and product divisions, and expansion […]
Quad/Graphics Buys LSC in Major Consolidation of Printing
The two largest North American printers are becoming one: Wisconsin-based Quad/Graphics will buy its primary competitor, print services provider LSC Communications (the print spin-off from RR Donnelley). The all-stock deal is valued by the company at about $1.4 billion (perhaps expressing the enterprise value, since the value of the stock exchange looks to be more like $380 million). LSC shareholders will receive 0.625 shares of Quad Class A common stock for each LSC share they own, paying what’s deemed a premium of 34 percent. The acquisition, not expected to close until mid-2019 and pending shareholder and regulatory approval, would nearly […]
WH Smith Comes to the US with InMotion Acquisition; Penguin Random Takes Majority Stake at Companhia das Letras
UK retailer WH Smith is buying Jacksonville, FL-based travel electronics retailer InMotion for $198 million. InMotion sells electronics including headphones, earbuds, mobile power and portable speakers at 43 US airports, further expanding WH Smith’s growing travel division. Perhaps more significantly, WH Smith says the acquisition will “support the launch and growth of WH Smith’s airport format in North America,” signaling their intention to become a bigger player here. InMotion will operate as a subsidiary of WH Smith. They are forecasting 2017 sales of $166 million, and the deal is expected to close by year end. Separately, ss Penguin Random House […]
Medallion Press Files for Liquidation
Earlier this month Medallion Press filed papers in a Northern Illinois Bankruptcy Court for a voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The filing says “the company is presently experiencing financial difficulties due, in part, to the difficulties facing the publishing industry.” The publisher’s principal asset is $254,000 in inventory in the warehouse of their distributor Ingram Publisher Services (Medallion had been a Legato/Perseus client), along with $67,000 in cash. The liquidated inventory and cash need to cover an estimated $111,000 in unsecured claims. Filing