It's a done deal, according to the latest news. Riverdeep has swallowed up Houghton Mifflin for $1.75 billion (that's with a b, yes) in cash and $1.61 billion (another b) of debt will be assumed as part of the package. Sweet Jesus, but that's a mind-boggling list of zeros.
In a bit of financial finagling, Riverdeep is being acquired by HM Rivergroup PLC, which is Barry O'Callaghan's Riverdeep in fancy dress. Holders of Riverdeep stock get a new HM Rivergroup PLC stock certificate for every piece of Riverdeep stock that they owned, and Mr. O'Callaghan gets to be the executive chairman for the new company. For the financially curious, the deal values Riverdeep at $1.2 billion with net debt included.
And so Reader Rabbit and Carmen Sandiego will go forth under a new banner, and Houghton Mifflin's textbooks will be printed under a different label. Mr. O'Callaghan has been at this business since 1995, and made a success of things. Having 1.75 billion dollars in cash is quite an accomplishment in and of itself, to say nothing of generating that sort of capital in ten years time. With plans to take the old textbook publisher into the electronic age, here's hoping his run of luck continues.
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