Publishing

Disney is Death Star for Europe’s telco media fad

14 December 2017

The "Star Wars" producer’s acquisition of Fox includes pay-TV business Sky, giving it more firepower and better content. European telecom groups like BT are struggling to justify investment in sports rights and content. Disney’s arrival may force some to make a necessary retreat.

Review: Firm ideas for a world of soft assets

1 December 2017

Modern economies are increasingly built on intangible factors like research and development and software. "Capitalism Without Capital" shows how this trend contributes to problems like rising inequality. But it stops short of tackling the rising dominance of big tech groups.

Slim chance of Kochs taking over Meredith media

28 November 2017

The campaigning U.S. billionaires are investing $650 mln in Meredith so the publisher can buy Time Inc. The Kochs get prefs with an 8.5 pct dividend but no board seats. Like Carlos Slim’s loan to the New York Times, the likely returns look more financial than political.

China Literature must summon army of Harry Potters

10 November 2017

Tencent’s online publishing arm has 6 mln writers peddling pulp. To justify a $12 bln valuation after a first-day pop, it has to find lots of J.K. Rowlings among their ranks, then conjure value by transmuting their tales into hit films and games. That reads like fantasy fiction.

Hong Kong’s IPO market is turning Chinese

8 November 2017

China Literature smashed the chandeliers in its $1.1 billion Hong Kong debut, soaring more than 80 pct in early trade. As local punters swarm into mainland tech, the new-issue market is mimicking distortions common in China. For the exchange, it's a good problem to have.

Tencent’s books are less gripping than its games

24 October 2017

Publishing unit China Literature wants to list in Hong Kong at a value of up to $6.4 bln. Sales and earnings are taking off. But e-books are less lucrative than online games, with a smaller market and a shorter track record. This does not merit a valuation to match its parent.

Pearson’s improved report card could be erased

17 October 2017

The education publisher issued a slightly more optimistic forecast for operating profit and said its U.S. textbook business is unlikely to repeat its catastrophic 2016. But Pearson has misread its key market before. The shift to digital publishing still looks painful.

Review: Black Monday infamy obscures 1980s excess

13 October 2017

In “A First-Class Catastrophe” journalist Diana Henriques argues the 1987 stock-market crash should have prompted smarter regulatory overhaul. She has a point. But scandals earlier in the decade she covers – and some she doesn't – were the real missed opportunities for reform.

Review: How Murdoch’s news revolution devoured him

22 September 2017

The play “Ink” dramatises the tycoon’s populist assault on Britain’s cloistered media after buying the Sun in 1969. It’s a deft history of the press culture that eventually led to the phone hacking scandal. These days Rupert Murdoch’s empire is the one at risk of disruption.

Review: Dalio writes ultimate baby boomer’s guide

15 September 2017

The Bridgewater founder is true to his generation. He wants you to decide what you want and help you get it. To that end he offers his life and work principles – all 525 of them. It's a bid for immortality, like the algorithm he's designing to run his $160 bln hedge fund.

Murdochs pay price for governance scandals

12 September 2017

Fox’s bid for Sky may be delayed after a minister questioned whether phone-hacking and harassment scandals could hurt broadcasting standards. It raises the risks of an awkward investigation. Worse, the UK’s volatile politics could shift further against Fox owner Rupert Murdoch.

Brexit-defying UK newspaper tie-up makes odd sense

8 September 2017

The publisher of the left-wing Daily Mirror may buy the anti-EU Daily Express. Trinity Mirror’s prior print purchases have boosted margins despite falling revenue, and a mooted 130 mln pound price is affordable. Pension liabilities, not politics, may be the main sticking point.

Barnes & Noble sale has plot logic but no ending

25 July 2017

An activist wants the $560 mln U.S. bookstore chain to go private. That makes sense for a fading business that needs work. The problem is finding a buyer on the other end. Amazon’s Whole Foods deal has everyone thinking. But Barnes & Noble may be nowhere on Jeff Bezos’ list.

Pearson’s $1 bln Penguin sale papers over cracks

11 July 2017

The education group is selling almost half its 47 pct stake in Penguin Random House to co-owner Bertelsmann. Pearson has maximised the cash proceeds, but the valuation looks low. With a still-troubled core business, boss John Fallon is running out of assets to sell.

Bolloré clan’s deal sums don’t add up

23 June 2017

Vincent Bolloré’s Vivendi is buying ad group Havas, run by his son Yannick. The younger Bolloré says it may create at least 390 mln euros of value, justifying the premium. That’s dubious: the premium is arguably bigger than he claims, and the return on investment still looks low.

Review: Zippy Uber trip gets barely halfway there

9 June 2017

Readers of "Wild Ride" are in safe hands with Fortune's Adam Lashinsky at the wheel. The book is efficient and effective, like travel using Uber's app. Given the fast pace of events for the $68 bln firm, however, life already has sped past this literary journey's destination.

Cost cuts won’t save Pearson or its CEO

5 May 2017

The UK education publisher is planning 300 mln pounds of savings by 2020, with the troubled North America business taking some of the pain. Markets aren’t giving embattled boss John Fallon much credit for the plans, and falling revenue could cancel out the gain to shareholders.

New York Times and CNN should beware news cycles

3 May 2017

What Donald Trump calls a "failing" publisher and "fake news" network revealed impressive subscriber and viewer numbers. Political fatigue is among the risks to the recent growth, however. Ad trends are scary, too. The companies can't believe too much in their own headlines.

Pearson buyout would be a study in low returns

23 February 2017

The UK education publisher's stock is down 22 percent this year, and its sprawling global business looks ripe for a breakup. Factor in the chance that the core U.S. textbook market is in terminal decline, however, and private equity would be brave to write the cheque.

Review: Defending America against the Fed

10 February 2017

A new book by Danielle DiMartino Booth, an adviser to ex-Fed hawk Richard Fisher, castigates the U.S. central bank's Ivy League groupthink and failure to change course since the crisis. Though Booth has a point, Janet Yellen and her colleagues aren't as omnipotent as she implies.