As was widely reported around the world yesterday, Time Warner has
agreed to sell its book operations to French media conglomerate
Lagardère for $537.5 million--just a day before Carl Icahn and others
are supposed to outline their plan for breaking up the company. Time
Warner book operations, which include Little, Brown, Mysterious Press,
Back Bay, Bulfinch, Sunset Books and Oxmoor House,
and a major branch in the U.K, will become part of Hachette Livre,
which will now be the world's third-largest publisher after Random
House and Penguin. Time Warner also acts as a distributor for some
publishers, including Disney and Microsoft. The timing was good for
Time Warner, which nearly sold the
book division three years ago to Bertelsmann for a mere $350 million;
in the last two years the division has had record profits and sales of
more than $500 million.
Lagardère, which has major publishing operations in France, Spain and the U.K., had wanted to bolster its English-language properties, which include the former Hodder Headline and Octopus Publishing Group. General and managing partner Arnaud Lagardère commented: "I welcome the people of the illustrious Time Warner Book Group. Their new home is dedicated to the values of the book publishing industry and, with [book publishing president and CEO] Arnaud Nourry as their leader, they will be in very good hands."
Lagardère is distinguished by a mix of properties in France that would likely unnerve U.S. antitrust authorities. It is a major book publisher and major book wholesaler--and operates Virgin bookstores under license. The company includes Hachette-Filipacchi, one of the largest magazine and newspaper publishers in the world, and has interests in aerospace, munitions and telecommunications gear. Hachette Distribution Services owns Curtis Circulation Co. in the U.S.
David Young is expected to continue as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Book Group and report to Nourry, according to Reuters.
Ursula Mackenzie, CEO and publisher of Time Warner Book Group in the U.K., told Reuters, "I can't say we've ever been held back by Time Warner, but we were effectively quite small, and I'm not sure it's easy to be small in our big corporate publishing world any more." Reportedly Time Warner's U.K. operations will not be merged with Hodder Headline.
Lagardère, which has major publishing operations in France, Spain and the U.K., had wanted to bolster its English-language properties, which include the former Hodder Headline and Octopus Publishing Group. General and managing partner Arnaud Lagardère commented: "I welcome the people of the illustrious Time Warner Book Group. Their new home is dedicated to the values of the book publishing industry and, with [book publishing president and CEO] Arnaud Nourry as their leader, they will be in very good hands."
Lagardère is distinguished by a mix of properties in France that would likely unnerve U.S. antitrust authorities. It is a major book publisher and major book wholesaler--and operates Virgin bookstores under license. The company includes Hachette-Filipacchi, one of the largest magazine and newspaper publishers in the world, and has interests in aerospace, munitions and telecommunications gear. Hachette Distribution Services owns Curtis Circulation Co. in the U.S.
David Young is expected to continue as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Book Group and report to Nourry, according to Reuters.
Ursula Mackenzie, CEO and publisher of Time Warner Book Group in the U.K., told Reuters, "I can't say we've ever been held back by Time Warner, but we were effectively quite small, and I'm not sure it's easy to be small in our big corporate publishing world any more." Reportedly Time Warner's U.K. operations will not be merged with Hodder Headline.