HMR, formed from Riverdeep's reverse takeover of Houghton Mifflin last year to create a $5bn (€3.7bn) group, is asking shareholders to approve the setting up of a holding company called Education Media and Publishing Group at an extraordinary general meeting to be held on July 9.
With more and more companies looking to establish a corporate structure in foreign lands - Bermuda (Stanley) and Dubai (Haliburton) and more companies considering going private because of current financial reporting requirements (SOX), Riverdeep is just another example of the trend.
The Independent has seen documentation regarding the scheme that will enable HMR to achieve more flexibility in dividend payments and also greater confidentiallity regarding corporate accounting.Net income seems to be more concept than precept down in the Caymans. According to the article, the company needs 75% of shareholder and High court approval. Currently they have exceeded the shareholder level (with O'Callaghan owning 48%) so it will be up to the High Court to approve. Doesn't seem in much doubt."Irish law largely restricts companies to make such distributions out of realised profit less realised losses. The definition of profit available in the Cayman Islands is much broader and so allows for greater flexibility in making distributions out of share capital subject to limited restrictions," comments Barry O' Callaghan the group's executive chairman.
“What we seek to do together is create the foundations for what is surely the highest aspiration that publishers, aggregators, search engines and politicians could have for the content industry - namely an increasingly healthy, profitable and vibrant sector which drives knowledge and diverse thinking throughout the internet and the world and which creates new opportunities for everyone," said Gavin O’Reilly, President of the World Association of Newspapers.
"We believe an advisory board of college students will be an important catalyst in providing Pearson with a fresh, informed perspective about our educational content, technology, services and future learning models," said Will Ethridge, President and CEO, Pearson Higher Education, International and Professional Publishing.The board consists of 12 students from across the country and each sits for one year. The group held its first meeting in Boston last week and furthermore, each student will work on particular initiatives and will be paired with a Pearson executive as a mentor.
Sandi Kirshner, chief marketing officer, Pearson Higher Education, International and Professional Publishing. "We have high expectations for the student board members and we are anxious to gain insights from their college experience."
But now, and rather suddenly, every book publisher is finding it has the need to manage the digital distribution of their content. The same set of content is needed by different people, in different forms, in different places and at different times, over and over again.
The white paper poses a number of questions which they later answer based on an extensive set of interviews with the key players in the industry. The pair interviewed companies in the US and Europe and publishers and a set of the predominate DADs. Among the questions they pose:
Presenting at the meeting were representative from Harpercollins, Ingram, Newstand, Bibliovault, codeMantra, CPI Publishing, MPS Technologies and Value Chain International. Each presentation was interesting in documenting the direction each company was taking in this arena. The comments by Bibliovault were especially on point for any one thinking about digital asset management:
So Pearson has been casting about for a partner, with the latest mooted structure being a joint bid with GE, the outcome of which would be a joint venture where the two own equal shares of 40-45 per cent and the Bancroft family retain a stake of 10-20 per cent. GE would put CNBC into the joint venture, Pearson would put in the FT and possibly some of the other assets from the FT Group, which also owns The Economist and a host of specialist financial magazines and databases. One or both would also have to contribute some cash so that the Bancrofts and Dow Jones' other shareholders could get something close to Mr Murdoch's $60-a-share for their holdings.
Tim Collins, President of EBSCO Publishing, said: “We are extremely excited about this partnership. Our relationship with ABC-CLIO will enable expanded access to some truly remarkable resources. As always, we remain committed to adding value for librarians and researchers in the research process.” Collins continued: “As a company that remains committed to growth, and one of the largest licensors and digitizers of content in the world, we are delighted and honored to be able to work with ABC-CLIO to enhance and expand history resources for teachers, students, and scholars.”
“I’m Dierdre Martin and this is George.” She didn’t fill in George’s last name,
but they both held out their hands and I shook them. I realized with a shock
that George’s hat was a dense cluster of tiny cameras, forming a rounded beehive
of angled, glittering eyes. “We’re from Google Interiors, a new venture
sponsored by Google to make every home interior in the world searchable on the
internet.” She paused and took in my doubtless stunned expression. “You know,
Google, the internet search engine?” she clarified helpfully.
Random House will send free copies of five new fiction titles to 95 LibraryThing members in exchange for short reviews. They'll ship another batch in July. Come October, LibraryThing anticipates opening its "Early Reviewers" program to other publishing houses. A half-dozen have expressed interest so far.
The potential for websites like Goodreads, LibraryThing, http://www.whatsonmybookshelf.com/, and http://www.shelfari.com/, to reach readers across all demographics is certainly promising. LibraryThing has 205,000 members and 14 million books catalogued. (Mr. Spalding likes to say that if it were a bricks-and-mortar library its collection would surpass Yale University's.) Shelfari, which was launched last year and doesn't disclose numbers beyond saying its users are in the tens of thousands, recently received funding from Amazon.com.
Unified Search offers no information not already available on Google, but by putting it all in one place, it is turning up sometimes disconcerting links between previously unconnected types of data. And Google is testing various forms of personalized Web search, including Web History, a feature that allows individual users to look back at a chronological history of their search activity over several years. Users learn what predictable creatures they are -- what good and bad habits they have -- when their entire Web search record is revealed, stretching back days, months, even years. By offering a digital record of users' daily interests, Google is giving those who choose the service an unprecedented level of insight into their own thinking. Computers have begun to play the confessional role once reserved for the local priest, or psychotherapist.If I needed a shrink, I am pretty sure he/she would not be my computer.
Google has responded by calling for comprehensive legislation to harmonize laws of various governments, all of which want their say over the World Wide Web. Self-regulation by the Internet industry has not worked, the company says. "Patchwork regulation is confusing for consumers because they don't know which privacy regulations should apply in different situations," Google attorney Wong says of U.S. privacy laws.Of course it is a little disingenuous for Wong to speak-up for us consumers when what they proselytize has a material impact on their business model. Nevertheless there is probably a grain/stone of truth to the comment.
These sources also mentioned the fact that Bureau van Dijk does not technically own its own information, as a potential cause for concern for potential bidders. On the other hand, one source noted that it can be seen as a high-quality asset, as reflected in the 9-10x EBITDA multiple being offered in two separate staple finance packages from Goldman Sachs and RBS. Bureau van Dijk’s products include bank, corporate and M&A databases such as BankScope and AMADEUS and ZEPHYR.
Wiggins is one of 40 writers featured on a video site launched Thursday by Simon & Schuster that includes clips of Wiggins, Zane, Jeannette Walls and Sandra Brown. The publisher expects to add videos for books by Vince Flynn, Michael Connelly and Jodi Picoult among others.Here is the link to the Wiggins video and here is the link to Bookvideos.tv where you can watch videos of favorite authors (when they do a video) and learn more about the books.
Once a novelty, book videos are increasingly common and, publishers say, essential. Hyperion Books, HarperCollins and Penguin Group (USA) are among those using them. Powell's Books, a leading independent store based in Portland, Ore., plans its own series of films, starting with a video for Ian McEwan's new novel, ''On Chesil Beach.''
''I don't know if we're reaching people we wouldn't otherwise be reaching, but we are reaching people who are not necessarily reading book review sections, or always watching a TV show,'' says Sue Fleming, Simon & Schuster's vice president and executive director for online and consumer marketing.
