Bloomsbury has acquired independent non-fiction publisher I B Tauris, a specialist in Middle Eastern and political publishing, for £5.8m.

Of the price, £4.8m was satisfied in cash at completion and up to £1.0m will be paid post-completion, subject to working capital and other adjustments.

Jonathan McDonnell, managing director of I B Tauris since 1997, will remain with the company until late summer to "ensure an orderly transfer of the business" to Bloomsbury.

Bloomsbury said the acquisition will "strengthen Bloomsbury’s commitment to serve the scholarly community with original, cutting-edge content". It comes as Bloomsbury’s Academic division begins a year of celebrations for its 10th anniversary this May.

I B Tauris, founded in 1983, publishes 300 new books internationally every year and has approximately 3,000 books available in either hardcover, paperback or digital editions. The I B Tauris publishing catalogue aligns with Bloomsbury’s academic publishing in the humanities, and broadens its publishing in the social sciences, particularly in Middle East Studies and International Relations where I B Tauris has been a leader, said Bloomsbury.

A statement on the acquisition said the acquisition is expected to "make a small profit in its first year, before reorganisation and acquisition costs, then be earnings enhancing thereafter." I B Tauris will contribute approximately £3.5m of revenue to Bloomsbury in the year ending 28th February 2019, the statement said.

Jonathan Glasspool, managing director of Bloomsbury's Academic & Professional Division, said the company is "delighted" with the acquisition. “I B Tauris has a world-renowned list in Middle Eastern, Politics and International Relations lists which complements Bloomsbury’s humanities programme. I B Tauris’s authors in the arts and humanities will benefit from the wider reach and scale of Bloomsbury’s international operation, as well as Bloomsbury’s investments in academic digital resources through its 2020 initiative", said Glasspool.

Iradj Bagherzade, founder and chairman of I B Tauris, added that the match is "remarkably good".

“There’s a genuine complementarity between our two programmes: both Bloomsbury and I B Tauris share a common approach to publishing, which is not only academically rigorous and quality-centred but also tightly focused on discrete academic disciplines," said Bagherzade. "And in many subject areas there will be a real dove-tailing effect where our lists will fit perfectly with existing ones: I’m thinking of History, Visual Culture and Film Studies. In other areas of I.B. Tauris strength like Middle East or Islamic Studies and Politics/International Relations our programmes will add to the Bloomsbury offering. The old maxim was never truer: the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.”

Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton commented: "IBT's complementary lists have good growth potential, especially with their inclusion within Bloomsbury's Digital Resources strategy. This acquisition represents another key step in our strategy to continue to grow quality recurring revenues through our digital resource offering."

In 2015, Bloomsbury acquired Osprey Publishing and in 2013 bought legal publisher Hart Publishing. </s> Bloomsbury Publishing shares were in the green on Tuesday morning, after it completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of London-based academic publisher IBT Tauris & Co. The London-listed firm said consideration for the acquisition was £5.8m, of which £4.8m was satisfied in cash at completion, with up to £1.0m to be paid post-completion, subject to working capital and other adjustments. It said IBT had a "world-leading list" in Middle East studies, history, politics and ... </s> Philip Green, the billionaire owner of the Topshop clothing chain, was named in parliament as the British businessman alleged to have used legal agreements and payments to hide accusations of sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying — an allegation he denies.

Peter Hain told the House of Lords on Thursday that he felt it was his “duty” to reveal the name under parliamentary privilege after being contacted by someone involved in the case.

The accusations are the latest in the #MeToo movement that has implicated high-ranking officials and businessmen for allegedly harassing and abusing women.

Hain’s statement named Green as the subject of an article published in the Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday about a leading British businessman accused of sexually harassing and racially abusing his staff.

“I feel it is my duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of the story, which is clearly in the public interest,” Hain said.

Green, of fashion empire Arcadia Group, denied the allegations in an emailed statement sent from a spokesman.

“I am not commenting on anything that has happened in court or was said in parliament today. To the extent that it is suggested that I have been guilty of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour, I categorically and wholly deny these allegations,” the statement said. “Arcadia and I take accusations and grievances from employees very seriously and in the event that one is raised, it is thoroughly investigated.

“Arcadia employs more than 20,000 people and in common with many large businesses sometimes receives formal complaints from employees. In some cases these are settled with the agreement of all parties and their legal advisers. These settlements are confidential so I cannot comment further on them.”

A UK court prevented the newspaper from publishing details of the account, including the man’s name, the companies, the specific allegations against him or how much he paid in settlements. The businessman had nondisclosure agreements, which the court said justified an injunction.

Earlier this month, the Guardian newspaper reported that Green had been involved in a spat over a feminist pop-up shop at one of his Topshop stores.

Penguin Books had collaborated on a display that featured a book of essays about feminism, and Green ordered the display taken down, the Guardian reported.

Green later apologised for what he called a misunderstanding, according to British tabloid the Daily Mail.

Parliamentary privilege has been used to skirt court orders before. In 2011, legislators took to both branches of parliament to identify two men who had separately taken out so-called super injunctions to stop newspapers from publishing stories about extramarital affairs. One of them was former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Fred Goodwin.

The allegations against Green come about a year after the New York Times reported on accounts of serial predation by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

After the report, women came forward with a deluge of accusations against prominent men in entertainment, business and politics.

What came to be known as the #MeToo movement tallied at least 429 people with publicly reported allegations of sex-related bad behaviour in national, state and local media, trade publications and the public record since the Weinstein story was first published.

Green, worth about $2.7bn according to the Bloomberg billionaires index, has also been embroiled in scandal for years over his management of the UK department-store chain BHS.

He netted a fortune in dividends from the company while the employee pension fund was hundreds of millions of pounds in the red.

In 2015, Green sold the troubled business for £1 to a former race-car driver with no previous retail experience. The company subsequently collapsed.

Legislators unsuccessfully demanded revocation of Green’s knighthood, calling him the “unacceptable face of capitalism”.

In 2017 he agreed to pay as much as $465m to fund his former employees’ pensions. </s> Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

Hedge fund Elliott Management announced Friday it plans to acquire bookseller Barnes & Noble for roughly $683 million, including debt.

Barnes & Noble has faced continued pressure from Amazon and independent booksellers. Its shares had fallen roughly 25 percent year to date before news of the deal leaked on Thursday. Within the past five years, Barnes & Noble has lost more than $1 billion in market value.

Amazon holds nearly half of new book sales, a report by audience research Codex Group said last year, while Walmart has about 4.2 percent of the market

In search of a turnaround, Barnes & Noble said last year it was exploring a sale after having received “expressions of interest” from “multiple parties,” including its chairman, Leonard Riggio, who founded the company in 1965.

Riggio has entered into a voting agreement in support of the transaction, the company said Friday.

As a private company, Barnes & Noble will likely be more free to make the changes and investment that can be unwieldy under a public spotlight. Part of the bookseller’s turnaround plan has included closing some of its more than 600 stores across the U.S. and relocating to smaller spaces that receive a fresh and modern look. The company has said its prototype stores encourage shoppers to buy books online or from a tablet.

The retailer has shown small signs of upturn. In March, it reported that over the holidays, sales at locations open for at least a year during the quarter rose 1.1 percent — its best quarterly performance in three years.

For its part, Elliott, the firm founded and led by billionaire Paul Singer, acquired Britain’sbiggest bookseller, Waterstones, last year. Owning the two book retailing giants could give Elliott synergies and buying leverage with publishers, people familiar with the industry say.

Elliott will operate the two retailers independently, the company said on Friday, though Waterstones CEO James Daunt will oversee both retailers as chief executive.
Publisher Bloomsbury acquires Middle East and political publishing specialist I.B. Tauris.