Bertelsmann is back

3 Jun 2003

The media giant has to balance repairing its finances and satisfying the ambitions of its Random House arm. But Bertelsmann’s balance sheet is a moving, and improving, target. A few months ago, a purchase was not doable. Now it makes more sense.

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Bertelsmann's publishing arm, Random House, has renewed its interest in bidding for Time Warner Books, which its parent AOLTime Warner is trying to sell to reduce debt. Despite initial interest from a range of bidders that were said to include Viacom's Simon and Schuster, a partnership between WH Smith's Hodder Headline and private equity firm Cinven, and Perseus Books Group, reports suggest that AOL has had difficulty generating interest in the sale, which is being conducted by Merrill Lynch. AOL was said to be targeting a price of around $400m for its books unit, which according to Merrill's analysts had annual sales of around $400m$450m and ebitda of $45m in 2002.

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