With general bafflement continuing over Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s willingness to admit out loud that they have a freeze on buying new books, the NYT speaks to Jeremy Dickens, president of Education Media and Publishing Group, the private equity company that owns the trade publisher. “He denied that the company was for sale, but said, ‘If there’s a transaction that makes sense for all of our stakeholders, we’ll consider it.'” And “he said that the company had received inquiries from other trade publishers interested in acquiring Houghton.” On the freeze, Dickens said they wanted to be “extremely prudent about the way […]
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Borders Comps Plunge; Pershing May Lend More
Borders has confirmed the obvious: “management is no longer contemplating a transaction” to sell the entire company.” But it is “in discussions with Pershing Square regarding an alternative financing transaction,” and still has the right to sell the Paperchase chain to Pershing Square for $65 million. Same-store sales for the third quarter suffered more at Borders than at the other big chains, falling 12.8 percent at their superstores, which had $548.4 million sales, with Waldenbooks comps falling less, by 7.7 percent, for sales of $91.5 million in total. Their web site sales were $11.9 million, “which is below management expectations […]
Woolworth's Halts Trading
In the UK, trading in Woolworths’ shares was suspended this morning at the company’s request, as they are on the verge of bankruptcy and deep in negotiations for a rescue. They said in a statement that they are in talks to sell the BBC Woolworths’ 40 percent share of their 2entertain joint venture, which produces and distributes BBC shows on DVD. There are reports of agreement for a sale of that unit for 100 million pounds, but the Times says “the sale of the DVD business hinges on talks over the rest of the business.” The chain is still in […]
No New Books. What's Houghton Thinking?
It was less than a month ago that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt held an “open house” at their New York offices to celebrate the first combined list of the once separate trade lines, but now that welcome is firmly closed as the trade and reference division has “temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts,” according to vp of communications Josef Blumenfeld. As first reported by PW and followed by the WSJ and NYT, Blumenfeld struggled for metaphors to explain the policy: “We have a temporary freeze on. We are working on what we already have.” Or rather, “there is a freeze-lite” he said. “There […]
Redstone's Debt Still Casts Shadow Over CBS
As Sumner Redstone continues to renegotiate $1.6 billion in debt–half of which is due on December 19–the financial world still expects that he will have to sell part of his public stock, even though he has insisted repeatedly he will not do so. The NYT says, “Here is what just about everyone, including those in Mr. Redstone’s inner circle, agrees on: if it gets bad enough, Mr. Redstone has indicated he would be willing to part with CBS, but not Viacom, according to three people briefed on the talks who, like the others involved, spoke on condition of anonymity.” Analyst […]
Borders Original Voices Nominees
The retailer announced nominees for their 13th annual Original Voices awards in four categories. Winners will be named in January. The fiction candidates are: Dear American Airlines, by Jonathan MilesThe Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven GallowayThe Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti The Lace Reader, by Brunonia Barry The Somnambulist, by Jonathan BarnesThe White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga Release