Wiley announced Tuesday it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire education services provider Learning House from Weld North Holdings for $200 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close on or around November 1. The Louisville, KY-based Learning House provides online program management (OPM) services for colleges and universities, along with professional development services for teachers; and learning solutions for corporate clients. 2018 sales for the unit are expected to be roughly $70 million, up 17 percent from last year. Wiley ceo Brian Napack says in the announcement, “Learning House is a dynamic growth company and we are thrilled […]
Finance
Barnes & Noble Reiterates Make or Break Pledge to Fix Their Website
Barnes & Noble held its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday morning, to a warm crowd of 50 or so rapt listeners, with a few hecklers reliably in the mix. (One gentleman guffawed both times CFO Allen Lindstrom said the word “innovation.”) Chairman Len Riggio kicked off the day by reiterating their celebration from early September of being named America’s “most reputable retailer” in the Reputation Institute’s 2018 US Retail RepTrak Rankings, moving ahead of Amazon, which Riggio called a “monumental achievement.” Riggio’s prepared remarks echoed themes from their early September earnings conference call, and he underscored that for the first […]
Kaplan to Swallow Barron’s Test Books
Kaplan Test Prep has acquired key assets of longtime rival Barron’s Educational Series, including the test prep, study aid, and foreign language assets, as well as the Barron’s brand name. The acquisition comprises about 650 of Barron’s more than 2,000 titles, also including their reference, business, and law titles. As Newsday notes, “The purchase combines two of the oldest and best-known brands in educational services and test-prep books in a market that is becoming increasingly competitive.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Following the merger, Kaplan’s new assets will still carry the Barron name, operating as a distinct brand. […]
Quarto Has Better Sales, Still with Big Loss; Bertelsmann to Buy OnCourse Learning
Quarto reported half-year results, with sales showing some improvement, as revenues rose $6 million to $56.2 million. Some of that gain reflects a shift in the “seasonal split of co-edition revenues, with a higher percentage than normal of expected full-year revenues achieved in the first half.” Their operating loss of ($7 million) was slightly improved from last year’s ($7.6 million), though the after tax loss of ($6.7 million) was higher than last year’s ($5.2 million), and is a poor result by any objective measure. The company’s lightly-traded stock is headed towards a new all-time low following the news. Though not […]
Meredith to Stop Operating Oxmoor House
Meredith has changed strategy for Oxmoor House, the 40-year-old cooking and crafts trade book publisher acquired as part of their purchase of Time Inc. (which in turn had acquired Oxmoor when it bought Southern Progress in 1985). Going forward they intend to license the Oxmoor list to another trade publisher — as the company has done with Meredith trade books since 2008, first through John Wiley and currently through Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Chief communications officer Art Slusark notes that, “As of this time, we have not selected a licensing partner.” Meredith laid off approximately 200 employees in a new round […]
Houghton to Sell Riverside Assessments
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will reap a welcome cash infusion with the sale of their Riverside Assessments division to private equity firm Alpine Investors for $140 million. HMH plans to invest the $135 million cash proceeds “in its Extensions businesses, supporting its strategy to create integrated solutions and improve student outcomes.” The deal is expected to close “early in the fourth quarter.” Alpine is adding Riverside’s clinical and standardized testing business to a portfolio that already includes Woodcock-Johnson family, the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), Iowa Assessments and others. HMH says it is retaining “assessment solutions critical to effective differentiation of classroom instruction, including Reading Inventory, Math Inventory, Phonics Inventory and Reading […]