News Corp announced an agreement to acquire the Books & Media segment of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH Books & Media) for $349 million in cash. HMH Books & Media will be operated by News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers subsidiary. HarperCollins is already the second largest consumer book publisher worldwide.
HMH Books & Media has an impressive catalog and potential for growth. For example, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1984 and Animal Farm are among the classics in the backlist.
In regards to growth, HMH Productions is involved in the Carmen Sandiego animated series on Netflix. The title is also slated to become a s live-action movie. In addition, other TV projects are in development. In calendar year 2020, HMH Books & Media had strong growth with net sales of $191.7 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $26.6 million.
News Corp notes that the deal includes the children’s and young adult divisions of HMH, including Curious George & The Polar Express. Furthermore, the audiobooks division of HMH is expected to add a growing revenue stream.
“There is a resurgence in reading and listening to books, and we believe the brilliant HMH Books & Media backlist and first-rate frontlist have an enduring and increasing value. Timeless writing is a timely source of revenue and the potential to create highly profitable audio and video works flourishes with each passing digital day. The HarperCollins collection will be bolstered for children and young adults, and authors around the world will have a larger platform for their creativity and ingenuity. It is crucial to expand in an era in which emerging monopolies threaten the creative marketplace, so we welcome J.R.R. Tolkien, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell and many, many other distinguished writers to HarperCollins.”
Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp.
Other notable HMH titles include The Best American Series, the Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks, How to Cook Everything and The Whole30 franchise.
