Quarto Publishing has agreed to acquire The Ivy Press for up to £1.3 million plus the assumption of up to £200,000 of debt, pending approval from the press’s lender. The unit will become part of Quarto’s international co-editions division. Founded in 1996, Ivy Press has been distributed by Thames & Hudson since 2012. Co-founder and co-owner Jenny Manstead used to work for Quarto, and is married to one of Quarto’s non executive directors, Bob Morley. Manstead says, “This is exactly the right move for Ivy at the right time. Becoming part of Quarto gives us a solid, secure platform from which to develop our publishing program with […]
International News
Mondadori Offers to Buy RCS Media’s Book Division
When Mondadori Editore spun off their book publishing and distribution units as a separate company as of January 1, the company indicated it would help them to pursue “partnership and merger opportunities” to grow. With little delay, on Wednesday Mondadori made a non-binding offer to acquire competitor RCS Libri (a unit of RCS Media Group). Reuters reports that people with knowledge of the offer say the deal could be worth between 125 million and 150 million euros. Mondadori recorded book sales of €334 million in fiscal 2013, down from €414 million in 2010 — and for the first 9 months of 2014, they had […]
Faber Ends US Partnership with FSG
Farrar, Straus and Faber and Faber announced jointly on Tuesday that they will terminate their 17-year partnership in the American-based Faber and Faber, Inc. effective immediately. FSG will retain the rights to all of the titles published through the partnership and will migrate them to the FSG colophon over the next 18 months. Mitzi Angel will continue to acquire and publish as executive editor for Farrar, Straus. The UK’s Faber and Faber will “be announcing its plans for the U.S. market shortly.” Faber and Faber chief executive Stephen Page explains a little further in the announcement, making clear that Faber is driving the news: “FSG and […]
People, Etc.
William Smith will join MIT Press as director of intellectual property licensing on March 9. Previously he was at Perseus, holding the dual roles of director of subsidiary rights for Perseus Books & director of digital business development for Constellation. At Bookshout, Tim Murray has been named vp, sales. Previously he was director, premium and custom publishing at Simon & Schuster. In addition, Timothy Cheng recently joined as director, sales. Previously he was special sales manager at Perseus. Catherine Farin has been appointed the Paris-based scout for Germany’s S. Fischer Publishing, as they expand their acquisition of French titles. BEA announced […]
Corporate: BAMM Committee, Quarto Refinances, and More
As expected, the board of Books-a-Million has formed a special committee of independent directors to consider the latest proposal from the family of chairman Clyde Anderson to take the company private by buying all outstanding stock for $2.75 a share. Quarto announced an agreement for a a new four-year, $95 million syndicated bank facility, with four banks that already finance the publisher. As of their half-year report for 2014, Quarto had $94 million in short-term borrowings. The Jamie Oliver Group is working with New York-based investment bank Raine to explore selling a minority stake in the chef’s media and publishing business, […]
Waterstones’ Sales Continuing Falling, But Daunt Expects Operating Profit Soon
Following the results of Waterstones in the UK is confusing, for two reasons. The first is that the privately-held company releases data on a delayed basis; in late January or early February, they file a government document that shows sales for the fiscal year ending the previous April. (So their results for the year ending April 2014 have just been filed.) The other reason is that the UK media is continuously eager to focus on how Waterstones is being saved, and managing director James Daunt is always ready with provocative quotes to fill the stories. Looking just at the numbers, […]