Mergers & Acquisitions

The King of Prussia, Pa.–based health and medical content distributor was bought by private investors Kevin Ream and Jeff Villwock.

The three major shareholders of the parent company of Hachette Book Group—Vivendi, Amber Capital, and Qatar Capital—are now aligned in a push to control four of the nine seats on the company board.

The co-founders of Foundry Literary + Media are launching new ventures. Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan, who started the full service firm 13 years ago, are amicably parting ways to create their own agencies: YRG Partners and Ultra Literary.

The private equity firm Atlas Holdings, with the support of a creditor group, has agreed to acquire LSC Communications in a deal that is expected to close before the end of the year.

In an interview with the 'Financial Times,' Thomas Rabe, chief executive at Penguin Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann, said he was interested in buying Simon & Schuster. Meanwhile, sources confirmed that, at a recent town hall meeting, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray said HC was also looking into a deal for S&S.

The auction to acquire the assets of LSC Communications, which was to take place on September 3, has been postponed until September 9. Bids for the company have not yet been made public.

Laurence King Publishing, the original publisher of adult coloring book queen Johanna Basford, has been acquired by fellow U.K.-based publisher Hachette UK in a deal signed August 31.

Austin-based Literati is launching five celebrity-branded subscription book clubs, curated by Stephen Curry, Malala Yousafzai, Sir Richard Branson, Susan Orlean, and the Joseph Campbell Foundation.

CJK Group will acquire the equipment and assume the customer contracts at the facility. The new entity will operate under the name Sheridan Kentucky and will align under the Sheridan division of the CJK Group.

The investment firm KKR has completed its purchase of OverDrive. The deal had first been announced on Christmas Eve.