Shari Redstone is once again looking seriously at merging CBS and Viacom back together, multiple “insiders” told TheWrap in a report Friday afternoon that lifted shares of both companies. (CBS continues to gain in early Tuesday trading.) She “has concluded that a bigger footprint is necessary for the companies to thrive,” the article says, as “three individuals with knowledge of the companies said that Redstone is actively moving in that direction [of a merger.]” Those insiders say that CBS chairman Les Moonves “is now open to the possibility,” and an individual close to Moonves told TheWrap: “He’s having active discussions with […]
International News
Harper Canada Finally Settles eBook Pricing Case
HarperCollins has reached a consent agreement with Canada’s Competition Bureau related to the introduction of agency ebook pricing there, a year after the other parties had settled. Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Apple all entered into consent agreements in January 2017, but Harper had resisted. They said, in part, “HarperCollins Canada is confident in its position that there is no violation of Canadian competition law and will vigorously defend itself against the allegations made by the Commissioner.” As a result, the Bureau asked the Competition Tribunal for harsher restrictions on Harper Canada. In a statement, the CCB says that “the […]
UK Print Units Decline In 2017
Because of the holiday Bookscan will not release their US sales statistics for the final week of 2017 until Thursday, but in the UK the final report shows a mixed view of a basically flat year. While the headline says the print market grew, the measure of book consumption says the opposite: Print book sales were 189.8 million units, down 2.6 percent from 195 million units in 2016. (And ebook sales were likely down as well.) What grew is the measure of the bookselling economy — sales generated at retail (which Bookscan captures in the UK, but not in the US). […]
Bertram Books and Related Units Sold
Connect Group announced an agreement to sell their books division to Australian private equity firm Aurelius for £10.6 million, with up to another £1.05 later based on various contingencies. The unit comprises UK wholesaler Bertram Books, Bertram Library Services, online bookseller Wordery, and academic supplier Dawson Books, plus subsidiaries including Erasmus and Houtschild in the Netherlands and France. Managing director Justin Adams and his management team will stay with the division following the sale. Adams said in a statement, “In Aurelius I believe we have found an owner that has the financial and operational capabilities to help us on our journey to build […]
Media-Participations to Acquire La Martiniere Group Following Goverment Approval
On Monday France’s competition authority officially “cleared” the proposed deal for media company Media-Participations (which specializes in comics and graphic novels, but also publishes magazines, has a film/tv production arm, and a digital media group focused on videogames) to acquire French book publisher La Martiniere Group (which also owns Abrams in the US). The Autorité de la concurrence “considered that the transaction would not be liable to harm competition,” noting “the limited nature of the positions held by the Média-Participations group and La Martinière Groupe in all the affected markets. It also took into consideration the significant competitive pressure that France’s principal […]
The Days Ahead: Bloomsbury’s Newton Speaks to the End of Exclusivity for UK Publishers In Europe
We’ve said it since it the United Kingdom first voted to exit the European Union in mid-2016 and now for the first time a UK-based trade publishing executive is saying it out loud, on the record. When Britain completes its withdrawal from the EU, expected to begin in 2019, UK publishers face losing their exclusive domain over exporting English-language books to continental Europe. Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton (who is American but based in London) tells the Guardian: “Quite often now, a British publisher of a work will have exclusive rights in Europe – because Britain is part of Europe. […]