Reed NZ name change to Raupo following Pearson acquisition
The New Zealand publisher Reed Publishing will be known as Raupo Publishing as a result of its acquisition from Reed Elsevier by Pearson in May this year. Reed Elsevier made...
Gary Allen sells to Tower
Book distribution business Gary Allen Pty Ltd has been sold to Tower Books for an undisclosed sum.Tower Books' director Michael Rakusin said that there is a logical fit between the...
ACCC examines Borders bids
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced an ‘informal review' into proposed bids for Borders by Angus & Robertson and by Dymocks.The ACCC is currently considering the proposed...
Collins Booksellers acquires Book City
Collins Booksellers has acquired the 28 franchises of the Book City group, effectively doubling its size.The new combined group will have more than 60 shops operating across Australia, with plans...
BBC Worldwide to take Lonely Planet guides online
Following its acquisition of 75% of Melbourne-based travel publisher Lonely Planet (reported in a WBN special bulletin on Monday), BBC Worldwide has announced its intention to take the publisher's 500-plus guidebooks...
BBC Worldwide acquires controlling share of Lonely Planet
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation, has acquired a 75% majority share in Lonely Planet, the Melbourne-based travel publisher founded by Tony and Maureen Wheeler in...
Hachette confirms amicable ADS buy-out
Further to last week's announcement that Allen & Unwin will move its distribution from Alliance Distribution Services (ADS) to the Pearson-owned United Book Distributors (UBD), Hachette Livre Australia has confirmed...
Ligare, Southwood to merge
Australia's third-largest book printer Ligare has announced it will merge with Southwood Press Book Printers. The merger, which will officially take place on Monday 8 October, comes after a proposed...
In brief
Concern at commercialisation of textbooks in NSWThe New South Wales Opposition has expressed concerns that the State Government is allowing corporations to market their products in books used in schools....
In brief
OUP acquires Beazer PublishingOxford University Press (OUP) has acquired Beazer Publishing. Beazer, founded in 1994 by Margaret Beazer, specialises in texts for Legal Studies and commerce subjects in Years 11...
In brief
Stephen King mistaken for ‘vandal' in Alice SpringsThe bestselling author Stephen King was mistaken for a book vandal when he began signing copies of his latest book Lisey's Story at...
Thomson Learning to become Cengage Learning
Thomson Learning has announced it will change its name to Cengage Learning. The name change follows the sale of Thomson Learning Australia to Apax Partners and OMERS Capital Partners in...
In brief
Little, Brown buys PiatkusThe Little, Brown Book Group has bought British independent publisher Piatkus. Founder Judy Piatkus will continue as MD until the end of the year, when she will retire...
Houghton Mifflin to buy Harcourt US
The US schools publishing businesses of Harcourt have been sold to competitor Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep for US$4 billion (A$4.4 billion). The purchase concludes the sale by Reed Elsevier of Harcourt Education, following...
‘Strong interest’ in Borders from trade and private equity
KPMG, sale advisors to the Borders bookselling chain, have reported ‘strong interest' in the chain's Australian and New Zealand operations from trade and private equity firms, according to a Reuters...
Pearson announces more Harcourt redundancies
Following its acquisition of Harcourt Education in May, Pearson Australia has announced a number of redundancies in the senior management group at Harcourt. ‘As previously announced we will be integrating...
Pearson to integrate Reed Publishing NZ
Pearson Group, which acquired Reed Publishing New Zealand (RPNZ) as part of its purchase of Harcourt Education in May, has confirmed its commitment to 'preserve and grow' the iconic Reed...
Pearson takeover of Harcourt complete: companies to ‘blend’, some redundancies announced
Pearson has received the necessary approvals from the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to allow it to finalise the acquisition of Harcourt Education in Australia and New Zealand, concluding...
Will Reed Publishing NZ go to Pearson?
Following the sale of Harcourt Education to Pearson, reported in last week's WBN, the ownership of New Zealand-based Reed Publishing may also be set to change. Booksellers Brief, published by Booksellers New...
Thomson sold to private equity
The Thomson Corporation has announced the sale of its higher education, careers and library reference assets, which include Thomson Learning Australia, in a US$7.75 billion (A$9.32 billion) deal with private...