Publishing

New York Times buyout not as likely as it looks

21 April 2006

A buyout by the Sulzbergers is superficially attractive as the stock tumbles and outside shareholders become increasingly pesky. But the family might conclude it s better to put up with sniping from powerless shareholders than paying heed to banks or private equity.

VNU risks another big clash with investors

14 February 2006

Some shareholders believe the Dutch media group could fetch far more via a breakup than a sale to private equity. The real issue is one of trust. The board should follow Hollinger s lead and appoint a credible interim chief executive to manage the sale.

Hedge funds aren’t the only bullies

18 November 2005

Traditional longonly investors are also getting uppity, kicking companies into play and heaping pressure on errant chief executives. This is a good sign that they are taking their fiduciary obligations more seriously and learning from the hedge funds.

VNU U-turn a victory for shareholders

17 November 2005

The Dutch media group hasn't just been forced to scrap its senseless $7bn IMS bid. Its boss has fallen on his sword and the shares are up. That's exactly what happened with Deutsche Boerse. This beats the old model, when share prices fell after unpopular deals and bosses stayed.

US newspapers should gear up

4 November 2005

Knight Ridder and its rivals appear to be running their businesses as if they have reasonable longterm growth prospects. They don t. But consolidation may not be a panacea, as synergies are hard to find. They might as well gear up and manage their companies for cash.

Dex sale will be private equity bonanza

22 September 2005

With Dex Media's pending sale to Donnelley, the buyouts of phone directory companies after the telecom bust are now coming full circle. And the results for private equity look brilliant. A tweak in Dex s results along with generous multiple expansion may yield a $2bn profit.

Reed Elsevier is UK’s biggest internet stock

26 April 2005

Yet it trades on only 15 times earnings, a fraction of the multiple enjoyed by internet stocks. It deserves a rerating. Those who think the company is boring confuse its output pointyheaded specialist publications with its business, which is growing.

Lord Black vies with Tyco boss for greed Oscar

1 September 2004

Denis Kozlowski and his $15,000 umbrella stand still have an edge, but Hollinger's report into Black's expenditure looks pretty awful. Given the amounts of money involved, Black and his fellow directors deserve to face a Tycostyle grilling in the courts. Dennis Kozlowski and his $15,000 umbrella stand still have an edge, but Hollinger's report into Black's expenditure looks pretty awful.

Reed Elsevier bulks up in risk management

14 July 2004

Buying Seisint for $775m cements Reed s position in a fast growing, high margin information market segment. But the AngloDutch publisher has paid a premium price and may struggle to make the deal accretive in the first year.

RWE puts Heidelberger stake up for sale

5 May 2004

The utility is attempting to flog fully half the printing machinery maker's capital in as little as two days. But can the bookrunning banks achieve that without the share price tanking?

Google kicks off $2.7bn auction IPO

30 April 2004

The first lines of the prospectus say it all: Google is not a conventional company. True to form, neither are its plans for an auction. But before Google can revolutionise Wall Street, it has some high hurdles to jump to prove this is a more effective way to price equity.

Martha Stewart raises white collar bar

7 March 2004

The US home improvement icon's conviction Friday on 4 counts shocked many who found her crimes relatively petty compared to Enron et al. This fails to grasp the public s hunger to find culprits for corporate greed of any kind and bodes poorly for those next on the docket.

What’s up with the Financial Times?

1 March 2004

Losses at the paper have deepened and Pearson isn't counting on a return to profit this year. Other divisions will have a tricky 2004 too. The good news is that 2005 looks a lot better. But there isn't much case for piling into the stock yet.

Lagardere may be forced to sell bulk of Editis

4 December 2003

At least Lagardere bought the business from Vivendi for a song last year. Now it looks like it needed to. The French conglomerate was expected to sell a big slab of the publishing unit. But the proposed deal with Brussels is worse than expected.

Pearson still in the doldrums

28 July 2003

The publishing group says the decline in its firsthalf profit reflects a strongerthanusual seasonality and expects a strong second half. But there is no easy growth here: Pearson is mainly relying on cost cuts and competitive wins to outperform flat markets.

Apax and Hicks, Muse seek Yell exit

1 July 2003

The directories business is racing to float over half the company at a midrange valuation of about 9 times this year's earnings. Its private equity shareholders are set for a super exit that may help them in their own fundraising efforts.

Wolters Kluwer suffers for disappointing

11 March 2003

The publisher has delivered some modest incremental bad news that clarifies its preliminary results statement. Disappointed investors have reacted with all the coolness of a toddler.

Pearson tells a recovery story

3 March 2003

Gloomy investors have switched focus from the publisher's ailing FT newspapers to a decline in its much larger school business. But what about its stronger businesses, its dramatic deleveraging, and its generous dividend? Is it time to get positive about Pearson yet?

The price Lagardere is paying for Vivendi Universal’s French publishing assets looks like a bargain.

24 October 2002

Heard in Europe: Lagardere cuts a good deal with Vivendi

24 October 2002