Houghton Mifflin to Buy Divisions from Reed Elsevier
Houghton Mifflin Co., a leading educational publisher, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Harcourt Education, Harcourt Trade and Greenwood Heinemann divisions of Reed Elsevier.
Houghton Mifflin will acquire the Harcourt businesses for $4 billion, which will consist of $3.7 billion in cash and $300 million in common stock of Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group PLC.
“When Reed Elsevier announced its intention to sell the Harcourt businesses, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to combine these businesses,” said Barry O’Callaghan, the principal shareholder of Houghton Mifflin. “The addition of the Harcourt businesses to Houghton Mifflin will strengthen our position in the highly competitive educational publishing business. Together, Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt will provide a more customized, diverse and innovative range of products to meet the changing needs of educators and students.”
Tony Lucki, chairman, president and CEO of Houghton Mifflin and former CEO of Harcourt Education and Harcourt Inc., will oversee the new divisions.
According to Lucki, customers expect a wide assortment of educational programs.
“They also demand solutions across the K-12 learning continuum with more customized and innovative content and ongoing support for the products and services they value,” he says. “… Together we will be better positioned to meet the changing needs of educators in a wider range of subjects, states and school districts.”