Tag Archives: International Publishers

Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted | Publishers Scramble for Osama bin Laden Books – Dispatch – WSJ

May 3, 2011 – 9:36 am

Publishers Monday scrambled to fill the Osama bin Laden book pipeline, hatching plans for digital titles they could publish almost instantly.

Jon Meacham, an executive editor at Random House, is assembling an essay collection about the Al Qaeda leader titled “Beyond Bin Laden: America and the Future of Terror” that Random House expects to publish as an e-book next week. It’s expected that the work will have about half-a-dozen contributors, plus an introduction written by Mr. Meacham. “He’s casting a wide net,” said Theresa Zoro, a spokeswoman for Random House, an imprint of Bertelsmann AG’s Random House Publishing Group.

via Publishers Scramble for Osama bin Laden Books – Dispatch – WSJ.

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News Publishing

The Apple Tablet

January 19, 2010 – 8:50 am

MacTablet 1
Creative Commons License photo credit: Jeroen Onstenk

Apple has invited a selected group of journalists to a 27 January event where they will launch at least one new product. According to Wired:

Apple has sent out press invitations for a product event to be held at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.

The invitation reads, “Come see our latest creation.” The event is scheduled to begin 10 a.m., Jan. 27.

Rumour concerning the product they intend to launch has been rife. However, now that the event is confirmed, it seems foolish to ignore some of the more credible stories. The Wall Street Journal reports today that:

HarperCollins Publishers is negotiating with Apple Inc. to make electronic books available for the introduction of a new tablet device from Apple, according to people familiar with the situation, posing a challenge to Amazon.com Inc.

HarperCollins is expected to set the prices of the e-books, which would have added features, with Apple taking a percentage of sales. Details haven’t been ironed out.

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News Publishing

Barry O'Callaghan Gets Coverage

January 18, 2010 – 8:30 am

Following some very positive coverage in the Irish Times last week, Barry O’Callaghan was given a less pleasing covering by the Sunday Independent:

BARRY O’Callaghan bet the ranch and lost big time. The Clongowes-educated financier was briefly worth “well north of a billion” before he was 40. Ever so briefly. Now with the implosion of his debt-laden publishing firm EMPG he is back to being an ordinary wage slave.

In another story, the Sunday Independent also covered the well-known Irish people who have been hurt financially by the crisis at EMPG:

Superquinn founder Feargal Quinn is thought to have invested up to €16m in Barry O’Callaghan’s EMPG publishers, which was involved in crisis talks over its €8bn debt mountain last week. Mr Quinn, who banked up to €400m from the sale of his Superquinn empire to property developers at the peak of the boom, is understood to have been one of the largest Irish investors in Mr O’Callaghan’s publishing outfit.

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News Publishing

Education Media Publishing Group Morning Update

January 14, 2010 – 8:46 am

UPDATED: LINKS FOR FRIDAY 15th JANUARY 2010

Barry O’Callaghan (CEO of EMPG) spoke on Morning Ireland this morning. The Audio is at the end of the RTÉ article.

Wednesday saw the news leak out slowly and some of the media outlets you might have expected to report in Educational Media Publishing Group‘s troubles didn’t.

This morning most of them seem to have made up for that. What is clear is that the massive debts are to be restructured leaving a group of Irish investors seriously out of pocket.

In a radio interview on RTÉ on Thursday 14th January Barry O’Callaghan confirmed that the group was restructuring and that there would be a loss of value in the order of SEVERAL BILLION. He was personally losing several hundred million.

I’ve updated this list of stories with the newest links:
read more »

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News

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Owner, EMPG, Is In Financial Restructuring Talks

January 13, 2010 – 2:48 pm

UPDATE: For more links and discussion, see the Morning Update post!

Education Media Publishing Group, owner of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is in financial restructuring talks that could see shareholders lose most of their equity according to RTÉ.ie and an Fine Gael (An Irish Opposition Party) Spokesperson, George Lee:

Educational media company EMPG, formerly Riverdeep, has confirmed it is in discussions which will result in ‘comprehensive’ financial restructuring.

Fine Gael said it appears that Irish shareholders will lose all of their investments as a result. ‘Many of these investors were funded through large loans from Anglo Irish Bank, which is now wholly owned by Irish taxpayers’, Fine Gael’s George Lee stated.

RTE News understands stockbroking company Davy has been in touch with a number of investors informing them that their equity has been wiped out.

RTÉ also got a quote from the company:

‘These developments have no adverse effect on our day-to-day operations, on our employees, or on the nature and quality of the service we provide to our customers and business partners,’ the statement said.

FOR MORE
The Bookseller:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt parent company Education and Media Publishing Group (EMPG) is in discussions about a financial restructuring that could see the business taken over by its bankers, according to reports from Ireland.

In August last year the company restructured in order to reduce its $7bn (£4.3m) in debts, a move that saw its founder Barry O’Callaghan’s equity stake diluted.

Wall Street Journal (Reg Required):

Irish-American educational software publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co.’s U.S.-based holding company said Wednesday it will undergo a “comprehensive balance sheet restructuring.”

The holding company–the U.S.-based Education Media & Publishing Group–said: “We and our financial and legal advisors are in advanced discussions with the company’s debt holders regarding potential alternatives that would result in a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring to put the company on a stronger financial footing.”

Publisher Lunch – 1 - (Reg Required):

Two debt restructurings last year still left Houghton Mifflin Harcourt parent company Education and Media Publishing Group (EMPG) straining to sustain their debt obligations and covenants, and reports from Ireland indicate yet another restructuring is in the works that would wipe out equity-holders entirely and turn the company over to its secured lenders.

Publisher Lunch – 2 - (Reg Required):

“Moreover, certain of our lenders have committed to make substantial new investments in the company in connection with this restructuring. Significantly, the plan will enhance liquidity and the company expects to have over $600M of new working capital to support growth initiatives.”

The Irish Independent:

Education Media & Publishing Group, the parent company of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said it is in discussions with its debt holders aimed at a “comprehensive” financial restructuring.

EMPG is holding talks to put it on a “stronger financial footing,” it said today in an e-mailed statement.

“These developments have no adverse effect on our day-to- day operations, on our employees, or on the nature and quality of the services we provide to our customers and business partners,” it said in the statement.

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