Lisa Richards has joined Macmillan as National Account Manager, representing all of the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group’s imprints to retail accounts serviced by Levy, including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Target. She has previously worked for TOKYOPOP, Viz Media, and Prima Publishing, and reports to Director of Children’s Sales Mark von Bargen. After 18 years with Hodder and Headline, James Horobin will join Simon & Schuster UK in the newly created role of Group Sales, Marketing and Brand Development Director. He reports to Executive Director Kerr MacRae. At Headline, Aslan Byrne becomes UK and International Sales Director with immediate effect, reporting […]
Legal
BN Trial: A Vote Against the Poison Pill May Trigger It Anyway
On the fourth and final day of testimony in Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Delaware court suit challenging Barnes & Noble’s poison pill, board director Michael del Giudice testified that any investor holding more than 20 percent of the book seller’s shares decide to vote against the poison pill at the annual shareholder meeting in November, that move would itself would trigger the pill. “If they have an agreement or understanding to do so, that’s the problem,” said Del Giudice. But when pressed to define what, exactly “the problem” was that could trigger the pill, Del Giudice was more vague: “I don’t […]
BN Trial Zeroes in on Possible Burkle-Aletheia Alliance
On day three of the case brought before Delaware court by Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa challenging Barnes & Noble’s poison pill, testimony from expert witnesses finally delved into what’s been openly speculated about for months: if Burkle is able to wage the proxy fight he wants at the upcoming annual meeting this fall, it would hinge on an alliance between Yucaipa, and its more than 19% stake in BN, and the next-largest stockholder, money management firm Aletheia Research & Management, with a more than 16% stake in the company. Testifying on behalf of Yucaipa, CEO of MacKenzie Partners Inc. Daniel Burch […]
Shack Attack
One of the bestselling inspirational books ever has turned from success to suits. As the LAT reports, author of The Shack William Paul Young is engaged in complex litigation against his former partners, Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings at Windblown Media, and Hachette Book Group has been drawn in as well. The dispute, focused on money but also involving copyright and the movie rights, seems to stem from the original working agreement behind the book, which was an oral understanding arrived at long before the success that has led to sales of at least 8 million copies in the US […]
Riggio Contradicts Himself on the Stand
Testifying Friday in a Delaware courtroom in the case brought by Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa challenging Barnes & Noble’s poison pill, chairman Len Riggio said of the defense plan adopted by the board, “It’s about the company.” But in a videotaped deposition before the trial played in court, Riggio said “the pill was about me and my family.” At another point in the deposition, he said, “I have a strong preference for being the largest shareholder of Barnes & Noble, being its founder.” Riggio was vaguer on the point raised in the first day’s testimony by Barnes & Noble board member […]
Lively Testimony at BN Trial
Coverage of the first day of testimony in Ron Burkle’s lawsuit against Barnes & Noble in Delaware makes for fascinating, if not crystal clear, reading. Burkle indicated that he considered–but then rejected–a buyout bid for BN last year at $25 a share. (The stock now trades for under $13, its lowest point in years.) He accumulated stock last fall because he thought the company was historically cheap–“This was one of those things you would look back on and say ‘this could never happen again'”–but on that point he’s already been proven wrong by the market. Burkle is considering nominating his […]