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 […]
Finance
EU Parliament Vote Moves Controversial Copyright Law Forward
The EU Parliament passed the Copyright Directive, containing two controversial provisions intended to ensure publishers and content creators get paid when their content is shared on internet platforms such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube. While the vote is significant, particularly considering that Parliament rejected a different version in July — it’s far from final. As the Guardian and others report, the law will now go to three-way negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. The European Parliament will vote one final time in January. Article 11 (referred to as the “link tax”) allows publishers to […]
Barnes & Noble Pushes Back Against Shareholder’s Sale Wishes
Barnes & Noble’s stock was trading 28 cents down from Friday’s close at 10:40 Monday morning, a loss of more than 5%. On Friday, the stock had risen 75 cents a share, a gain of almost 16.5 percent, on investor Richard Schottenfeld’s expansive declaration of his hopes for a sale of the company in a recent SEC filing, per our report Friday morning. But the company pushed back on those wishes, as well the implication that Schottenfeld had discussed a possible sale with company chairman Len Riggio. A spokesperson declared, “Barnes & Noble is not engaged in a process to sell the […]
Investor Schottenfeld Increased Barnes & Noble Stake, and Hopes for A Sale
Investor Richard Schottenfeld at Schottenfeld Management filed revised ownership forms with the SEC, indicating he has increased his stake in Barnes & Noble, now controlling over 5 million shares, or approximately 6.9 percent of shares outstanding. Schottenfeld’s companies have been engaged in a lot of trading of the bookseller’s stock — mostly through options. As of yesterday those investment’s were under water, with BN’s stock falling more than 8 percent on Thursday following another disappointing earnings reports, down to $4.55 a share. But news of Schottenfeld’s buying, and his agitation for a sale, boosted the share price on Friday, with […]
Briefs: A New Marquez, Salinger’s 100th, Center for Fiction Nominees, and More
Forthcoming Vintage Español will published a selection of journalism by the late Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez, El Escándalo del Siglo (October 23, 2018). An English-language edition of The Scandal of the Century will be published by Knopf in May 2019. The book will include an introduction by Jon Lee Anderson and an editor’s note by Cristóbal Pera, Márquez’s longtime editor and friend, who also selected the articles that appear in the book. Awards The Center for Fiction has announced the seven title shortlist for its $10,000 First Novel Prize, with the winner to be named on December 11: Asymmetry, […]
IPG Acquired Midpoint; Bonnier to Make Units Independent Companies
Independent Publishers Group (IPG) purchased distributor Midpoint Trade Books on August 17. Midpoint founder Eric Kampmann is serving in “a consulting and advising role and will assist in the transition,” with Alex Kampmann taking over daily management as vp, general manager, Midpoint. Eric Kampmann continues to own and operate Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press, which will still be distributed through Midpoint program. IPG ceo Joe Matthews said in the announcement, “Our industry is consolidating because distribution rewards scale, requires expensive technology and demands high-level access to customers. By bringing together these two established distributors, publishers will benefit greatly as IPG accelerates its investments […]