Publishing

Pearson investors need their homework checking

17 Jan 2018

The $8 bln education publisher’s revenue has stopped cratering after it stemmed a decline in sales of U.S. textbooks. The relief may be temporary. Colleges are shifting to cheaper course materials and a price war is looming. That is hard to square with a rich valuation.

Review: “The Post” gets more relevant by the hour

12 Jan 2018

Steven Spielberg's cinematic retelling of the publication of the Pentagon Papers feels rushed at times, and the nostalgia for a bygone newspaper business is maudlin. But such flaws are easy to forgive as current events emphasize the necessity of a free – and profitable – press.

Bannon woes gift Rupert Murdoch a Happy New Year

5 Jan 2018

Fresh from his Disney deal, the media mogul may benefit from a new book about White House dysfunction. The exposé is ripping apart the alliance between President Trump and his former aide and Breitbart News boss. That may hobble a major rival just as Murdoch launches New Fox.

Can carmakers think outside the self-driving box?

19 Dec 2017

Renault is investing in a magazine publisher, targeting the extra leisure time people will have in driverless cars. Breakingviews imagines the pitch from an M&A banker eager to encourage auto executives to buy other autonomous-vehicle beneficiaries, from music to alcohol. Sincerely.

Disney is Death Star for Europe’s telco media fad

14 Dec 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 Dec 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 Nov 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 Nov 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 Nov 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 Oct 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 Oct 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 Oct 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 Sep 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 Sep 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 Sep 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 Sep 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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jun 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 Jun 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.