Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala backs Hurowitz S&S bid

Richard Hurowitz’s bid for Simon & Schuster is said to be backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth manager Mabudala, according to reports.

Image: Simon & Schuster

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Other reported bidders: HarperCollins, KKR

VVarious news media and news agencies reported the following Report from the meeting by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Jessica Toonkel wall street journal Progress on retender for 99-year-old US publisher Simon and Schuster.

On Wednesday (June 21), Trachenberg and Toonkel wrote that New York investment firm Octavian & Company’s Richard Hurowitz “has emerged as a rival to book publisher Simon & Schuster, backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth manager Mubadala Investment Co. buyers,” according to a source familiar with the matter. “

Some in the world of publishing may be pleased to know that Hurowitz is a writer, a In the garden of justice: The heroes who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. They might also note, with mild irony, the fact that the book was published by HarperCollins (Simon & Schuster’s bidder) on January 24th. According to a June 15 report by Toonkel and Trachtenberg.

exist publisher lunchMichael Cadell is reporting Hurowitz and Mubadala “are also likely to be bidders for S&S in 2020,” according to a person familiar with the matter — the first round of acquisition work to Penguin Random House attempt blocked In October, in an antitrust lawsuit in Washington.

Card learned this through his exhaustive documentation of his work for Penguin Random House

as Reuters’ Amy-Jo Crowley and Anirban Sen report On February 14, Paramount Global, the parent company of Simon & Schuster, reopened the sale of S&S – according to sources in Crowley and Sen – “working with financial advisors to explore a possible sale of value [S&S] Between $2 billion and $2.5 billion. “

At the time, Crowley and Sen wrote that Paramount would consider private equity firms as possible buyers “because they don’t [S&S] And it won’t raise competition concerns from U.S. regulators. “

Toonkel and Trachtenberg did report in their June 15 article that not only HarperCollins, but the private equity firm KKR Named as bidder for Simon & Schuster by people familiar with the matter.

Second Penny Book Published

UAE state-owned enterprises mubadala investment co. Formed in 2017 from the merger of Mubadala Development Company and International Petroleum Investment Corporation, the company manages AED1,015 billion ($276 billion) in assets and operates in at least 50 countries, according to its website.

Trachtenberg pointed to encouraging financial results for Simon & Schuster, with earnings reported to rise 19% to $1.18 billion in 2022. Sales also reportedly rose 19 percent to $258 million in the first quarter of this year.

The publishing house, which has become the most famous publisher of political literature in the United States, announced on June 15 that it will publish the work of former US Vice President Mike Pence Home for Dinner: Advice on How Faith Shapes Families and How Families Shape Lives November 14th. Go home to eat dinner“Pence,” co-written with Pence’s daughter Charlotte Pence Bond, has been described as an essay that focuses on Pence’s principles, which include prioritizing family.

Simon & Schuster previously published Burns’ memoir, so help me god, November. The two-book deal was part of what prompted some staff at the publishing house to circulate a petition calling on executives to deny book contracts to former members of the Trump administration.

At the time, the CEO of Simon & Schuster, in a memo to employees on the subject Jonathan Karp In a staff memo, it reads: “Our job is to find the writers and works that light our world—from first-time fiction writers to journalists, thought leaders, scientists, memoirists, celebrities, and, of course, the The power of those who walk through the hall.

“Regardless of the ideological positions of these authors, or whether the views they hold are contrary to the belief systems some of us hold, we apply strict criteria to ensure that when acquiring books, we will bring the work into The world offers new information or perspectives on events that might not otherwise be available to us.”

this wall street journalSources this week indicated that Simon & Schuster’s second round of bidding was scheduled for mid-July.

More published views on Simon & Schuster are heremore information on Penguin Random House is heremore information on HarperCollins is heremore information on mergers and acquisitions in the publishing industry is here.