In advance of Thursday morning’s court hearing on liquidation plans, Borders filed its operating report for the month of June. The company reported total revenue of $90.1 million (of which $86.6 million were sales) and an operating loss of $20.6 million, of which $19 million was due to reorganization costs. Also, current and former executives Scott Henry, Glen Tomaszewski, and Michele Cloutier each received $50,000 in bonuses. Monthly Report Borders also responded to 99 objections from creditors in a separate filing on Wednesday, calling those objections “irrelevant” since they don’t intend to carry on contracts with business partners and landlords […]
Legal
Briefs: University of California Shutters Poetry Program; OFT Signs Off on Bertrams/Dawson Merger; and More
The University of California Press has decided to suspend the publication of its poetry book series New California Poetry after it publishes 3 titles in 2012. Director Alison Mudditt told the LA Times that the decision came about because of budget cuts – it expects to see 10 percent in funding reductions from the university – as well as the “shifting marketplace” for books and publishing. LAT The Office of Fair Trading has been in the headlines of late because of mounting opposition to Amazon’s acquisition of The Book Depository (so much so that UK trade organizations are taking the […]
Judge Chin Will Push Google Books Case to Trial If There’s No Settlement By September 15
It took Judge Denny Chin thirteen months to consider and reject the Google Books Settlement, but in court Tuesday he indicated that he will not let the case drag on forever. The parties have had only four months to start all over, but Chin expressed some pragmatism is noting, “I have a sense that we’ll come back here in September and you’ll just want more time,” noting that “Google has all but said they would not accept an opt-in deal.” (The company already has an opt-in program that exists outside of the settlement.) Absent being “resolved or close to resolved […]
More eNews, Off the Beaten Path: Muhammed Ali Sues Kobo; An Author’s eFirst Serial; Chinese Authors Complain to Apple; and More
Muhammad Ali Enterprises has sued Kobo in a New York Federal Court, saying the company used the apparently-trademarked “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” phrase in an ereader ad without permission. Bloomberg Author Keith Devlin has self-published electronically a section that had been cut from his just-released book THE MAN OF NUMBERS, under the title Leonardo & Steve: The Young Genius Who Beat Apple to Market by 800 Years. Priced at $2.99, the self-published ebook was issued more or less simultaneously with the full title from Bloomsbury, packaged with the first chapter from the book itself. Agent Ted […]
Borders Assures Landlords That The Rush To Sell is The Fault of Lenders
Though the myriad of objections filed by landlords by Monday afternoon’s deadline over Borders’ prospective sale to Najafi was par for the course, Borders filed their own response motion in bankruptcy court late Tuesday. In it they say the accelerated sale process owes to GE Capital’s stipulation under the amended financing agreement that the company must find a buyer by July 29 – and have the sale approved by July 22 — lest they default. “The sale simply cannot take place in the timeframe required if there are any further delays in the schedule,” Borders stated. “If the sale does […]
Borders Has Preliminary Sale Agreement with Najafi
Borders announced Thursday night it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Najafi Companies’ Direct Brands unit, which it will submit to the bankruptcy court as a stalking horse bid as part of a court-supervised auction of the bookseller. “Purchase” is an interesting term (“take” might be another one), since Najafi would put up $215.1 million for “substantially all of the company’s assets,” acquiring inventory potentially worth far more than that, along with assuming $220 million in liabilities. It’s not clear how many locations Najafi intends to keep operating–but there is an agreement in place already with Hilco and […]