German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports that Gruner + Jahr, in which Bertelsmann owns a controlling stake, is among the bidders for Reed Business Information.Wire item
M&A
Scholastic Announces Direct-to-Home Continuities Sale
Scholastic announced that it has “entered into a definitive agreement” with private-owned Sandvik of Norway to purchase their US direct-to-home continuities business. Sandvik’s primary business is “operating consumer-direct, age-appropriate children‘s book clubs, using email and the Internet to reach their target audience of parents with children up to age seven.” The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009.Release
Putting a Price on AbeBooks
TechVibes–where former ABE executive (and still director) Boris Wertz is also a director and investor–estimates a price tag for Amazon’s recent purchase of $90 million to $120 million: “According to the AbeBooks website, in 2007 they did $190 million in gross merchandise volume and had 13,500 bookseller members on their platform. Based on AbeBooks’ 13.5% combined commission/service fee and minimum monthly subscription fee of $25, AbeBooks’ revenue in 2007 was approximately $30 million. If you look at comparable online e-commerce businesses like eBay with a current market cap of $32 Billion and 2007 annual revenue of $7.6 Billion, it’s safe […]
Amazon.com to Buy AbeBooks
Amazon can lay ever-bigger claim to being the largest independent bookseller in the world with today’s news that the etailer has agreed to acquire AbeBooks. The online marketplace says it offers “over 110 million primarily used, rare and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world.“ Amazon vp of books Russell Grandinetti says, “As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to our customers worldwide. AbeBooks provides a wide range of services to both sellers and customers, and we look forward to working with them to further […]
McGraw Hill Joins Equity Firms Interested in Reed Business
The Telegraph says that McGraw Hill is one of the few actual publishing companies to express interest in bidding on Reed Business Information, along with a number of private equity firms. Reed is making available 160 million pounds in loans and has arranged another 560 million pounds in credit from a consortium of bankers to make it easier to unload the unit in one piece. First round bids are due by mid-August.Telegraph
Bertelsmann Reverses Denial: Will Sell More Book Clubs
The AP has obtained a letter to Direct Group employees from Bertelsmann chief executive Hartmut Ostrowksi that admits “we have decided to initiate the sale process for our [book and music club] businesses” in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, plus the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Flanders (Flemish-language in Belgium), Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. At least for now the company intends to retain Direct Group units in German and French-speaking countries, plus Spain, Italy, and Portugal. (Note that the French media recently reported the hiring of Morgan Stanley to elicit offers for the Direct Group division.) AP