Bertelsmann’s recent international managers’ meeting focused on plans to invest from €5 billion to €7 billion euros across the company by 2025 — but as the FT underscores, right now the company’s ambition to acquire is facing multiple obstacles. Besides the Simon & Schuster acquisition, now in doubt pending the verdict of Judge Florence Pan, a plan to merge their French television business M6 with the larger TF1 was dropped in September after a hearing before the country’s competition authority, which had “significant problems.” The same month, customer services provider Marjorel — half owned by Bertlesmann — and call center […]
International News
Storytel Expands Into France
Storytel is launching their audiobook subscription in France today, and has partnered with the country’s largest publishers — including Hachette Livre, Madrigall, Editis, and Actes Sud. Readers will be able to access more than 7,000 titles in French and more than 290,000 in Arabic and English through Storytel. Storytel says the agreements also “open the door for expansion into French-speaking markets.” The company’s new editorial lead for the European region Constance Parpoil “will head the development of the French catalogue and other publishing partnerships in the region.” “We are happy that Storytel is opening a service in France on a […]
PRH UK and Harper UK Increase Base Salaries
Penguin Random House UK and Harper Collins UK raised their entry-level salaries to over £26,000, effective July 1. At PRH UK, base level pay was increased £2,500 to £26,500, with a guaranteed raise of £1,000 after a year. At Harper UK, salaries now begin at £26,250, up from £25,000. That sounds low to an American ear, particularly with the pound down to almost parity with the US dollar. It is slightly above London’s “living wage” of £24,900, and about 39 percent above the minimum wage. (The New York baseline starting salary of $45,000 at the big five publishers is 44 […]
France Imposes Minimum Shipping Fee for Book Orders
The French government has set a minimum fee of €3 for online book orders of less than €35, Reuters reports. France has submitted the proposal to the EU and the fee will take effect six months after it is approved. In December of last year the government passed a law requiring a minimum shipping rate — aimed to level the playing field between independent retailers and Amazon, which offers shipping as low as one cent — but hadn’t determined what the rate would be.
Pearson Sells the Last Part of their K-12 Education Business In South Africa
Pearson has finished the long-running sale of most of their K-12 education businesses around the world, with a deal to sell the South African units to Novus Holding. The total price is £53 million, and Pearson has a 75 percent share of the company. Pearson decided to retain their K-12 education businesses in Australia and English-speaking Canada. The businesses sold since 2021 had provided revenue of £252m, and £22m in adjusted operating profit. Pearson says they “achieved a blended multiple of 14.1x EV/EBITDA 2021” across the various international units sold. That’s much better than they did while unloading the big […]
Sage Publications Closes Books Division in India
Sage Publications has closed its books division in India, laying off 83-84 employees. The books department was focused on academic publishing. The closure was announced suddenly at a company-wide meeting on July 28. The Wire reports that days later, employees “were made to sign a resignation letter saying that they were quitting for personal reasons.” The letters also disallowed them from posting on social media about their layoffs. Employees noted that around “40-50 volumes are now stuck at various stages of production” with no clear plan for how to complete them. Some authors published by the house have been notified, […]