Mergers & Acquisitions

Penguin Random House has sold its controversial self-publishing division Author Solutions. Author Solutions, acquired by Pearson in 2012 for $116m (£74m), for integration into Penguin, was sold to an affiliate of Najafi Companies, an Arizona-based private investment firm, on 31st December. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Bloomsbury Publishing is set to acquire LexisNexis and Jordan family law publishing assets from RELX, subject to approval, for £1.4m. The deal is part of a strategy to increase the proportion of non-consumer revenues to 50% and on completion of the deal Bloomsbury will own the rights to six family law titles, including Duckworth's Matrimonial…

LANHAM, Md.—December 21, 2015—Rowman & Littlefield announced today that it intends to acquire the assets and liabilities of Stackpole Books, a venerable specialist publisher whose roots go back to the 19th century. Based in Mechanicsburg, PA, near Harrisburg, Stackpole Sons was founded in 1930 by the sons of E.J. Stackpole Sr. – E.J. Stackpole Jr.,…

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—December 15, 2015—Ingram Content Group today announces the acquisition of Aer.io, a service that allows publishers, retailers and authors to sell and fulfill print and digital books directly to readers via their websites, blogs and social networks. “The addition of Aer.io addresses our customers’ growing desire to connect more directly with their readers,” said…

When Ashgate Publishing was bought last summer by Informa, a large corporation, some academics feared for its future. What would happen to the family-owned publishing house, which had spent four decades building a reputation for social responsibility and close relationships with its authors? In November those fears started coming true. According to a Change.org petition…

NEW YORK—October 28, 2015—HarperCollins Publishers today announced its acquisition of The Midlist, a daily email newsletter featuring ebooks deals, from Libboo, the industry leader in audience development through sharing content. The service will be merged into the publisher's growing Bookperk platform, which delivers deals and other offers to more than a million users in the…

NEW YORK—October 23, 2015—Macmillan Higher Education and Macmillan New Ventures announced today that the companies will unify as a singular education unit under the new brand, Macmillan Learning, as of January 1, 2016. The move unites two premier education companies within Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (HPG)—Macmillan Higher Education, which include the renowned publishing imprints of Bedford/St.…

NEW YORK—September 30, 2015—HarperCollins Publishers today announced the continued expansion of its Global Publishing Program with the creation of HarperCollins Italia. Harlequin Mondadori S.p.A, which has successfully operated in Italy for 34 years and was formerly a joint venture with Harlequin Enterprises and Mondadori Libri, will now be fully owned by HarperCollins. The business will…

WASHINGTON, DC and BOSTON—September 22, 2015—Cengage Learning, a leading global education company, today announced the acquisition of Learning Objects, a Washington, D.C.-based education technology company. Learning Objects powers innovative, customized and adaptive online learning programs and courses to higher education institutions through its state-of-the-art learning platform and instructional design services. With Learning Objects, institutions are…

NEW YORK—September 16, 2015—News Corp announced today that it has agreed to acquire Unruly Holdings Limited (“Unruly”), a leading global ad platform that is revolutionizing digital and social video advertising for clients around the world. “Unruly is a feisty and creative company with a start-up sensibility that fits perfectly with our own approach to developing…