The three victims - a German and two Turkish citizens - were found with
their hands and legs bound and their throats slit at the publishing house.
Police went to the scene after receiving calls about a fight, Milliyet newspaper
reported.
The bidders include a consortium made up of Bain Capital Management, Thomas H. Lee Partners, the Blackstone Group along with Bertelsmann, the privately-owned German media company; a second bidding group is made up of Providence Equity Partners, which is possibly teaming with one other investor, and has the learning division’s management’s on its side, according to the sources. The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. are bidding alone, the sources said. Providence’s partners in the bid could not be confirmed, but one of the sources said it is teaming up with Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, while another source said it is teaming up with Pearson
Collins Stewart adds that, with a current debt weighting of just 1.4 times earnings, Reed is under-leveraged and if it does not gear up its balance sheet "maybe private equity will do the job instead". The broker estimates at a debt multiple of 8 times earnings the shares could be worth up to 1,147pOnce the sale of Harcourt is done perhaps some activity will heat up. I see them being very interested in Bureau van Dijk as it would fit nicely into their legal and regulatory segment. Interestingly, the international spread of BvD could also aid Reed in expanding legal and regulatory into wider global penetration with new products and data/information.
Just as the economic outlook continues – even improves – in 2007, we see a continuation of a great deal market. We expect the number of deals and the dollar volume to continue – at least – at the record level of 2006. We are also aware of a very full deal pipeline. We expect to see more public companies going private, just as Reader’s Digest did – and it’s not just Sarbanes-Oxley. As we’ve seen, media executives now know that they need to transform their companies into platform-neutral content enterprises combining strong traditional and new-media distribution channels. But to do this makes it even more difficult to manage earnings from one quarter to the next, as the public markets demand. One result: the solution offered by buyout firms looks ever more attractive.
The outlook for M&A in 2007 is as good as we’ve ever seen. All the pieces are in place: availability of funds, favorable interest rates, eager buyers without the time to build rather than buy, brands that need to find new delivery platforms, and a regulatory climate that all but deliberately discourages new companies from going public and existing public companies from controlling their own fates. There is yet another population of buyers perhaps waiting in the wings – European media businesses newly flush with a strong Euro and, finally, thriving domestic markets. To say we’re looking forward to the excitement is an understatement.
No matter how the numbers are tabulated, given the activity already announced at the tail end of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 it is hard to see 2007 not being a banner year for M/A activity in the media space. Already Wolters Kluwer education has gone for over $1.0billion, Veronis (Private Equity) has purchased Advanstar for over $1.obillion and Houghton Mifflin has been purchased by Riverdeep. In the wings are expected $4-5Billion deals for Thomson and Harcourt and $1.0billion for Bureau van Dijk. If Pearson or Reed are gobbled up by PE then it really will be a banner year.
There is a key comment in the above forecast which studiously points out that some very big and seemingly sophisticated media companies still have a lot to do to re-make their companies into 'new-media' content providers and not print companies. Five years hence the companies purchased by private equity will burst forth into the public markets in almost unrecognisable form having gained the flexibility to transform their companies into true online and new media players.
Industry sources said Bureau van Dijk is likely to generate bidding interest from business information publishers Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Pearson and Incisive Media, which was last year acquired by private equity firm Apax. US bidders such as Dow Jones & Co, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Standard & Poor's owner McGraw-Hill and Factset are also likely to be interested.BvD was sold to Candover a number of years ago when the founder and owner sold 60% ownership. Senior management own the balance of the stock. The company publishes business and company information on millions of companies (private and public) around the world. From their web site:
We provide detailed, analytical databases, for in-depth research, such as AMADEUS (a pan-European database), ORBIS (33 million companies around the world) as well as extensive country-specific databases (FAME, DIANE, DAFNE). These products are ideal for in-depth research of individual companies, identifyingThe Telegraph suggests the company could be worth over $1.1billion; however, financial information is sparse and this company could be a one of a kind deal given the value of the type of information it collects and the depth of its databases.
companies complying with specific criteria plus detailed analysis of company
peer groups and benchmarking. In addition, our ZEPHYR database covers M&A
deals and rumours around the world.
Borders Group has been advised that, in connection with establishing a hedge of the convertible note hedge and warrant transactions, the counter parties to those transactions or their affiliates expect to enter into various derivative transactions with respect to Borders Group's common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the notes. The counter parties or their affiliates may also enter into or unwind various derivative transactions with respect to Borders Group common stock and/or purchase or sell Borders Group common stock in secondary market transactions following the pricing of the notes (and are likely to do so during any observation period relating to the conversion of a note).
Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) has determined, based on shareholder feedback,
to re-evaluate its proposed offering of $250 million of Convertible Senior
Notes, announced yesterday. The offering will not proceed today as originally
planned while the company re-evaluates this and other financing alternatives.
Upon completion of this re-evaluation process, Borders Group will issue an
update at a later date.
"Ms. Reynolds also said Harlequin, which typically relies on a male protagonist of chiselled physique for its titles such as Slow Hand Luke and Jack & Jilted, is often looking for more muscular models that her agency typically wouldn't carry. "It's difficult because we only have a limited pool of guys who might be able to--even if they're slightly augmented -- look right. It's easier for us to provide the James Bond guy or the New York, sophisticated-businessman guy."
"Peter Duck, a professor in Ryerson University's School of Fashion, said he was not surprised to learn Harlequin is facing a shortage of manly models, given trends in the fashion industry. "The agencies, I'm sure they're getting this look that's been popular for the last few years, which is very skinny, tall and young."
I swear that was the first cover I came across.
Lecture and Test Prep videos for seven additional Martin-Gay titles from Pearson Prentice Hall will be available for download by summer 2007, covering basic college mathematics, introductory algebra, and, intermediate algebra. Students can purchase sections of the Lecture Videos for $0.99 each; a chapter of the Test Prep videos for $1.99; and a full chapter of the Lecture Videos for $3.99.The quick video content is designed to support in class and text material and a 'great way to get extra support'. Parents may anti-up for the videos but I wonder whether the kids will. How soon will the videos be available for free on YouTube? You do have to recognize that Pearson comes up with these interesting ideas to extend content into different distribution channels and to go where the customers are.
Revitalizing the domestic Borders superstore business to achieve, by 2009:
Specialty Retail segment.
As part of the development of Borders.com, the company is consolidating its Web properties into a single infrastructure. This will facilitate a seamless cross-channel experience that will integrate the in-store and on line experiences. The addition of new "Digital Centers" in Borders stores will enable customers to learn about, interact with, and purchase new digital products-- such as audio books, e-books, MP3 players -- and services such as down loading and personal publishing that complement the Borders brand. The company is in the process of exploring several potential arrangements for key partnerships with respect to its digital offerings. The digital services can be made available both in-store and online as a result of the Web initiative.
"We need to reinvent our business to exploit the rapid changes taking place in how consumers access information and entertainment," Jones said."Our ultimate goal is to make Borders a vital community gathering place where people come together to see, touch, interact, and learn -- online and in- store."
The company recorded a consolidated loss in the fourth quarter of $1.25 per share, which compares to consolidated earnings per share of $1.78 for the same period in 2005. For the full year, on a GAAP basis, Borders Group posted a consolidated loss of $2.44 per share compared to consolidated diluted earnings per share of $1.42 for the prior year. Excluding non-operating charges, primarily comprised of asset write-offs, the company recorded consolidated diluted earnings per share of $1.61 for the fourth quarter, which compares to operating consolidated earnings per share of $1.87 one year ago. For the full year, on an operating basis, Borders Group posted consolidated earnings per share of $0.39 compared to $1.57 consolidated earnings per share in 2005.
Most of the EPS loss is attributed to asset impairment related to the UK operations (although they don't discuss exactly what the reasoning is here) but even without the write-downs which were probably necessary the full year operating results versus a mediocre last year are pretty dire.
Full year results were announced as follows:
Results in the third quarter were generally positive. Strong sales in the core clubs and improved efficiencies sustained an impressive profit turnaround in School Book Clubs and drove higher margins in the Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment. Robust technology sales also improved results and margins in Educational Publishing. In addition, the Company's cost reduction efforts remained on plan," commented Richard Robinson, Chairman, CEO and President. "While customer acquisition through the Internet remained strong in Continuities, higher bad debt and promotion amortization hurt the quarter's results and have caused us to reduce our outlook for the fourth quarter and full year.
Results for the quarter:
Blurb now has fans among architects, real estate agents, photographers, cookbook authors, museum archivists and others who have used it to print bookstore-quality editions. It takes orders for thousands of books daily, up from hundreds just a few months ago.A basic hardcover Blurb book is adorned with a full-color, glossy dust cover that looks like it belongs in a bookstore, not on a standard $29.95 homemade project. "We live and die on … quality," says Gittins. "That's what's really gotten people's attention."
Most Blurb customers (Gittins calls them Blurbarians) order books of 100 to 120 pages, and the cost is $37.95. A similar book from Shutterfly or the Kodak EasyShare Gallery would cost upwards of $100. Gittins says Blurb makes money
on every book, and can afford the lower prices thanks to automation.Blurb's Booksmart software is a free, fully functional layout program. Designing your book — if you are so inspired — can take many hours. But once it's finished and uploaded to Blurb, there's very little human interaction. "We're the cleanest business (that) printing has ever seen," Gittins says. "There are no proofs, just finished books."
The NYSE is suspending trading because the Company now anticipates it will not file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year2005 (2005 10-K) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by April2, 2007 and is therefore not in compliance with NYSE Rule 802.01E. The NYSE stated that an application to the SEC to delist the Company's shares from the NYSE is pending the completion of applicable procedures.
Bertelsmann said the initiative would allow it to take minority stakes in businesses and decide after three to five years, when its partners are seeking an exit, whether to take full control. The initiative comes just 10 months after the Mohn family, which controls the group, engineered the buyout of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, its only external shareholder. The deal increased Bertelsmann's debt by €4.5bn to €6.8bn and lowered expectations that one of Europe's most conservative media groups would be able to take on any large deals in the short term.
We had some snow this weekend but it has cleared up and despite a cold breeze it was a beautiful day yesterday. This is the location where a scene from On The Waterfront with Marlon Brando was filmed - just over by the green fence.
Any reader who sticks with the program and absorbs the wealth of material that Mr. Shapard offers will, insofar as such a thing as possible, read “Pride and Prejudice” as it was read and understood at the time of its publication, with all the period details in place and correctly interpreted. But the novel, in most respects, remains the same. The reader who does not know a farthing from a guinea, it’s safe to say, will nonetheless grasp the great drama of attraction and repulsion that plays out between Darcy and Elizabeth. The cut and thrust of their conversation is timeless. Generations of young women who do not know the first thing about an entailed estate or a quadrille will recognize in Austen’s heroine a kindred spirit, a contemporary, a valued ally in the eternal war between the sexes.
That’s why there’s a niche market for annotated editions and period guides. A while back Daniel Pool responded to a crying need with “What Jane Austen Ate and What Charles Dickens Knew,” a whirlwind tour of day-to-day life in 19th-century England, with plentiful examples from Trollope, Thackeray, Eliot and Hardy. It tilts heavily toward the Victorians, whose world, with its railroads and factory towns and gaslighted streets Austen would not have recognized.
1 Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre
2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
3 Ulysses, James Joyce
4 Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis De Bernieres
5 Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
6 The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
7 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
8 War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
9 The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
10 Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
1. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (20%)This is clearly as list conducted in Greater Britain since I am sure if this were done in the US that The Bible would be number one.
2. Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (17%)
3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (14%)
4. Harry Potter books, JK Rowling (12%)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (9.5%)
6. The Bible (9%)
7. Wuthering Heights , Emily Bronte (8.5%)
8. Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell (6%)
8. His Dark Materials , Philip Pullman (6%)
10. Great Expectations , Charles Dickens (5.5%)
the smaller exhibit celebrating Gone with The Wind. In this newspaper front page a significant amount of space is given over to the premier of the movie but in the lower left is a story about the Graf Spree, a German battle cruiser that had been chased around the Atlantic by the British and had holed up in Uruguay. The juxtaposition of these two events - the movie and the war - is very interesting. It shows that at the same time the war was a very real thing in Europe that perhaps it wasn't quite so important at the time in the US. The British were frustrated in their victory in this skurmish of course since the Graf Spree was scuttled. On the other hand Viv Leigh did get best actress. (Sorry for the bad photo).The legislation would regulate the use of textbooks in state schools with the goal of keeping the cost of students’ required reading down.It would require that college classes use the same version of a textbook for at least two years “unless there are substantial differences] between the old and new edition," he said.It would also prohibit state college instructors and book-buyers from getting any kind of compensation for their choices, meaning it would become illegal for them to accept incentives and promotional gifts from book publishers. (Tuscaloosa)
The idea is to prod professors to take advantage of articles, lecture notes, study guides and other materials available for free on the Internet.That suggestion, and several others, were aired during a 3 1/2-hour meeting in Santa Clarita, Calif., where the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance heard from college administrators, textbook publishers and other higher education leaders and advocates.The meeting - the second of three field hearings the panel will hold around the country before it delivers a congressionally requested report in May - didn't produce any consensus. And neither did it answer a question that seemed to be a subtext of the proceedings: Who is to blame for textbooks that cost more than $100?
That is the suggestion of David Scheck of Stifel Nicolaus on the basis that the publishing retail business really isn't suited to the expectations of Wall Street. Scheck went on to suggest that the fundamentals of the company are strong with good cash flow, significant retail presence and store productivity. My initial reaction to the general news coverage was a) things can't be that bad and b) are they trying to tap down expectations and the share price on purpose. Scheck's company views the news of depressed gross margin due to Harry P and the impact of their membership programs as a worse case scenario. By my calculation, they expect a $50mm decrease in net income which represents a 30% decrease compared to 2006.That's the update so far. Stay tuned for more.
