THIS WEEK
News Review The headlines: in brief
B&N makes shareholder offer after rejecting late Readerlink approach
Barnes & Noble has issued shareholders with a formal tender offer, aſter rebuff- ing a further bid from US book distribu- tor Readerlink, made aſter an initial deadline—following the agreement B&N struck with Elliot Advisors—had passed.
BARNES & NOBLE REJECTED AN OFFER FROM READERLINK WORTH $7.25 PER SHARE
The Elliot offer expires at 10 p.m. GMT on 6th August and requires approval by a majorit of shareholders, according to the latest filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which reveals how Elliot first proposed a merger in August 2018, three months aſter acquiring Waterstones. At that point a deal would have seen B&N’s shareholders hold a 51% stake in a combined B&N and Waterstones firm. New York hedge fund Elliot, which owns Waterstones, entered into a $683m (£537m) agreement to acquire
Rights deal
of the Week
£2,000
Début author Laura Steven has won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize (CWIP). Steven scooped the £2,000 Published category with YA novel The Exact Opposite of Okay (Egmont), while Kirsty Eyre won the Unpublished prize (a publishing contract and a £5,000 advance from HarperFiction) with queer romcom Cow Girl at the awards ceremony on Wednesday (10th July) at The Conduit Club, Mayfair. Jilly Cooper received the lifetime achievement award.
Rights deal
Twenty is plenty for Seven Dials Seven Dials has snapped up Feed Your Family for £20 a Week by Lorna Cooper within 24 hours of submis- sion following, a whirlwind four-publisher auction. Cooper is founder of fyf20quid, an online budget meal planning and recipe brand for families which has more than 500,000 Facebook followers. Executive publisher Anna Valentine scooped world, all-language rights from Carly Cook at Carly Cook Publishing. The “must-have” 100-recipe book will be a superlead in January 2020.
14 12th July 2019 Stat
Barnes & Noble on Friday 7th June with plans for Waterstones m.d. James Daunt to be installed as c.e.o. of the US chain and Waterstones, spliting his time between New York and London. The latest documents reveal
Readerlink went back to Barnes & Noble aſter missing a midnight deadline. On 18th June, Readerlink submited a revised offer of $7.25 a share, which was rejected amid funding concerns, with the bidder needing more time to secure “the necessary equit and debt funding” and a “a $201m gap in their financing source”. The filing adds Readerlink, with financial support from other sources, could still “make a public offer at any time”.
B&N and Elliot did not comment on the SEC filing. The Bookseller has contacted Readerlink for comment. For the full story, see
thebookseller.com.
Ex-Penguin publicist’s Push hits seven figures Former Penguin Books publicity director Ashley Audrain’s début thriller has been snapped up by Michael Joseph in the UK in a seven- figure deal, with a higher seven-figure deal struck in the US. Michael Joseph fiction publishing director Maxine Hitchcock bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada), as part of a two-book deal, from Madeleine Milburn of the Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency. US rights went to Pamela Dorman Books/Viking. The Push will be published in early 2021.
W&N’s Kerslake to join Curtis Brown Creative Weidenfeld & Nicolson editor Jennifer Kerslake will join Curtis Brown Creative in September as senior manager for courses and operations. Her last day at the Orion imprint
Cressida Cowell @cressidacowell
I’ve been made the new @Waterstones Children’s Laureate... books and reading are transformative magic and I want that magic to be available to absolutely everyone
is 23rd August, and she will join the literary agency’s writing course academy on 2nd September, in the newly created role. Orion is currently recruiting for her successor. In five years at Orion, Kerslake has
published books by authors such as Costa-shortlisted Elisa Lodato and Stella Prize-winning Heather Rose, as well as working on the estate of Dylan Thomas. Curtis Brown Creative m.d. Anna Davis said Kerslake’s newly created role is representative of the writing school’s expansion. She added: “Our students will benefit hugely from Jennifer’s editorial and publishing experience, and I’m sure she is going to play an important role as we expand and offer more opportu- nities to writers.”
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