A hearing has been scheduled for March 15 on Borders‘ request that the judge overseeing bankruptcy proceedings take more time to decide what the company should do about outstanding lease agreements. Debtors are typically allowed 120 days under the bankruptcy code, but can ask for a 90-day extension for a total of 210 days. Borders, however, has asked to have until January 12, 2012 to deal with leases. Freep REDGroup Retail will close 38 of its 260 bookstores in Australia and New Zealand as part of its recently filed bankruptcy agreement. Of those stores, 37 were Angus & Robertson shops […]
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iPad 2 Ships March 11 in US; Random House’s 17K Titles In iBookstore
The slimmer, thinner, camera-laden iPad 2 was unveiled yesterday with typical Apple fanfare, releasing March 11 in the US and March 25 in 25 other countries. The surprise was the appearance of Steve Jobs who presented expected news: now that Random House has adopted the agency model, their full electronic list of 17,000 is available through the iBookstore in the US. (Random House Canada indicated that they will not be joining the iBookstore for now, as their “digital terms of sale remain unchanged at this time.”) Apple bragged that over 100 million e-books have been downloaded–not sold–worldwide since the iBookstore’s […]
Announcements: BN Settles Spring Design Lawsuit; McGraw-Hill Buys Bookette; Quarto Buys Cool Springs Press; and More
Barnes & Noble has settled with Spring Design over the 2009 lawsuit on whether the Nook’s design breached patent agreements for the now discontinued Alex Reader. Under terms of the agreement, Spring is granting Barnes & Noble a non-exclusive license for all of its patents and patent applications. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.Release McGraw-Hill has bought Bookette Software Co., a privately held provider of automated scoring for tests, including written exams.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Release AbeBooks’ European division will acquire ZVAB.com, a leading online marketplace of German rare antiquarian books, from Mediantis AG. The acquisition […]
Harper Explains E-Book Circulation Cap As A Way to “Find the Best Model For All Parties”
With librarians growing increasingly (and vociferously) critical of HarperCollins’ recent announcement that it would cap e-book lending circulation to 26 checkouts, President of Sales Josh Marwell published an open letter outlining the rationale for the company’s decision. Early on he states HarperCollins’ goal is “to continue to sell e-books to libraries, while balancing the challenges and opportunities that the growth of e-books presents to all who are actively engaged in buying, selling, lending, promoting, writing and publishing books.” Arriving at the number 26 came about after “many months examining the issues”, discussing the matter with agents, distributors and librarians. In […]
Briefs: HMV Warns It May Violate Banking Covenants; Debts Owed to REDGroup Creditors; Lewis Sued for Defamation by Asset Manager; and More
As speculation mounts over whether minority stakeholder Alexander Mamut will buy Waterstone’s, the chain’s parent company HMV warned investors this morning that it expects to violate banking covenants as a result of full-year profits falling below expectations. While HMV said it was in talks with lenders to amend its credit loan agreements, which remain available, chief executive Simon Fox admitted in a statement that “trading conditions remain tough, reflecting a difficult consumer environment as well as the changing markets in which we operate.” He added that HMV “is adapting quickly to respond to these external factors, and we are confident […]
Pearson Freezes Libyan Government’s Minority Stake
In its earnings call yesterday Pearson admitted it was “uncomfortable” with the Libyan Investment Authority being its fifth-largest shareholder. Today the company announced it will freeze the LIA’s stake, valued at 3 percent last June but now at approximately 3.27 percent, or 26,572,179 shares. Pearson states that, per legal advice, “under The Libya (Financial Sanctions) Order 2011 (SI 2011 No. 548), Pearson considers that the ordinary shares in the company which are held by or on behalf of the LIA are subject to the Order and are therefore effectively frozen.” They have since informed the LIA and its nominees that […]