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. </s> The chief executive of Johnston Press has reassured staff of a “brighter future” after the company announced it was preparing to enter into administration.

In an email to staff seen by the Press Association, David King said the publisher will apply for court approval to be sold to a newly-incorporated group of companies controlled by creditors.

It informed staff they would continue to be paid and should turn up to work as normal, with their contracts to be transferred to the new company.

Mr King is set to stay on as chief executive and said “operations will continue uninterrupted”, with newspapers and websites being published as usual.

He said: “This has not been an easy decision for the board.

“However, having explored a range of other options, this is the best available course of action and it is one that offers a chance for a brighter future for our business.”

One of Britain’s biggest publishers, it has more than 200 titles in print and online, including the i, The Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman.

The publisher had recently been looking at ways to refinance £220 million of debt which is due to be repaid in June next year.

In the email to staff, Mr King said: “At its peak, the company’s debt reached £793 million.

“We have all worked incredibly hard to reduce those debts. And we have done so against a relentlessly tough market backdrop.”

At its most recent trading update, Johnston reported a hit to revenues, mostly due to changes in Google and Facebook algorithms.

Mr King said this meant the company had to “re-cut our cloth to match the new reality”.

In a statement from Johnston on Friday, the publisher said “following considerable interest in the formal sales process”, it was decided that none of the offers received delivered sufficient value.

“The board has concluded that there is no longer any value in the ordinary shares of the company,” the statement added.

Johnston will be de-listed from the London Stock Exchange as part of the process on Monday, Mr King said.

He also revealed the 250 members of the current workforce in the defined benefit pension scheme will see future payments affected by the restructure, in line with pension protection fund (PPF) payment rules.

Speculation that the publisher might be sold had been growing since it announced the strategic review in March 2017.

In August 2018, the company’s share price spiked, surging by as much as 70% in afternoon trading amid rumours that a mystery buyer was quietly snapping up more stock.

Following the announcement Health Secretary Matt Hancock, formerly a culture secretary, tweeted to say the news was “very concerning”.

“Makes stark reality of the intense pressure on the press,” he added.

Shadow culture secretary and deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, also tweeted his concern about the “late Friday announcement”, adding that he “will be reaching out to unions and staff over the weekend”.

In a second tweet he said: “Johnston Press going into administration is a grim day for local newspapers and another deeply worrying one for local democracy.”

Leeds North West Labour MP, Alex Sobel, tweeted to say he was sad that Johnston which owns The Yorkshire Post and the Yorkshire Evening Post was going into administration.

“Local papers raising local and regional issues are vital for our democracy,” he added. </s> Johnston Press, which owns newspapers including the i, The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, is preparing to enter into administration, the company has confirmed in a statement.

The publisher had recently been looking at ways to refinance £220 million of debt that become repayable in June next year.

At its most recent trading update, Johnston reported a hit to revenues, mostly due to changes in Google and Facebook algorithms.

In a statement on Friday, the publisher said “following considerable interest in the formal sales process”, and it was decided that none of the offers received delivered sufficient value.

“The board has concluded that there is no longer any value in the ordinary shares of the company,” the statement added.

Speculation that the publisher might be sold had been growing since it announced the strategic review in March 2017.

In August 2018, the company’s share price spiked, surging by as much as 70% in afternoon trading amid rumours that a mystery buyer was quietly snapping up more stock.

But in confirming the move towards administration, the publisher said all options to refinance or restructure the debt had been explored and that “it had not been possible to find a solution acceptable to our financial stakeholders”.

The statement added: “The board has concluded that it is necessary for the company and its principal subsidiaries to be placed into administration.”

Johnston said it has also requested the immediate suspension of shares trading on the London Stock Exchange, with a cancellation of trading due to follow on November 20.

The company is due to apply for court approval to form a newly-incorporated group of companies controlled by creditors.

“This is the best remaining option available as it will preserve the jobs of the group’s employees and ensure that the group’s businesses will be carried on as normal,” the statement added.

“The group hopes that this transfer will be completed within the next 24 hours.”

The publisher said it has more than 200 titles in print and online.

Following the announcement Health Secretary Matt Hancock, formerly a culture secretary, tweeted to say the news was “very concerning”.

“Makes stark reality of the intense pressure on the press,” he added.

Shadow culture secretary and deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, also tweeted his concern about the “late Friday announcement”, adding that he “will be reaching out to unions and staff over the weekend”.

In a second tweet he said: “Johnston Press going into administration is a grim day for local newspapers and another deeply worrying one for local democracy.”

Leeds North West Labour MP, Alex Sobel, tweeted to say he was sad that Johnston which owns The Yorkshire Post and the Yorkshire Evening Post was going into administration.

“Local papers raising local and regional issues are vital for our democracy,” he added. </s> (Reuters) - Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp is in talks to acquire Barnes & Noble Inc, in a deal that would mark the end of the once-dominant U.S. book retailer as a publicly listed company, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that a deal between the activist hedge fund and bookseller could be reached in the coming days. The Financial Times reported the price would be $6.50 per share, equivalent to a value of $476 million (£375 million).

Should Elliott prevail with its bid, James Daunt, chief executive officer of Waterstones, would head Barnes & Noble, the source said. Elliott bought the British bookshop chain last year.

Both Elliott and Barnes & Noble did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Barnes & Noble shares were last up 33.6% at $6.13.

Last October, Barnes & Noble said it was exploring its options after several parties, including founder-chairman Leonard Riggio, showed interest in acquiring the company.

Riggio acquired the flagship Barnes & Noble trade name in 1970s, nearly a century after Charles Barnes started the business in his Illinois home. Riggio grew the business, adding several retail stores across the country and transforming the Fifth Avenue store in new York into the world’s largest bookstore. The company’s growing success took a hit following the launch of Amazon.com Inc, which started as an online marketplace for books and also as more Americans shifted to non-reading activities like videogames. Since then, Barnes & Noble has grown its website, launched an ereader called Nook to compete with rival stores and online retailers. It has even closed several stores, including its flagship, and cut jobs to save costs.

It now runs 627 retail store as of January this year. The company’s annual sales have fallen for the past three years.

Barnes & Nobles has been locked in a legal dispute with its former Chief Executive Officer Demos Parneros after he was fired, partly because of allegations that he sexually harassed a female employee and attempted to “sabotage” a potential sale.

Parneros has rejected Barnes & Noble’s accusations. </s> Oct 11 (Reuters) - British billionaire Richard Branson said on Thursday that his Virgin Group would suspend its discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund over a planned $1 billion investment in the group’s space ventures, in light of events involving missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi government," Branson said in a statement. (bit.ly/2OiYtY3)

Branson also said he would suspend his directorship in two Saudi tourism projects around the Red Sea, citing the disappearance of Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist. </s> A British academic who was accused of spying for the UK government in the United Arab Emirates after travelling to Dubai to conduct research has been sentenced to life in jail.

Matthew Hedges, 31, has been in a UAE prison for more than six months. The University of Durham PhD candidate went to the country to research his thesis and was sentenced at an Abu Dhabi court on Wednesday in a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, with no lawyer present.

His wife, Daniela Tejada, 27, who was present in the courtroom, said Hedges began shaking when the verdict was read out.

“I am in complete shock and I don’t know what to do,” she said. “Matthew is innocent. The Foreign Office know this and have made it clear to the UAE authorities that Matthew is not a spy for them.”

She said the case had been handled “appallingly” with no one taking it seriously.

“The British government must take a stand now for Matthew, one of their citizens,” she said. “They say that the UAE is an ally, but the overwhelmingly arbitrary handling of Matt’s case indicates a scarily different reality, for which Matt and I are being made to pay a devastatingly high price.”

Hedges was detained on 5 May at Dubai airport as he was leaving the country.

He was arrested after an Emirati man apparently reported him to the authorities for “asking sensitive questions about some sensitive departments” and “seeking to gather classified information on the UAE”.

Hedges’ family said he had all the correct documentation in order to enter the UAE and was researching aspects of the UAE’s foreign and domestic security strategy, including the war in Yemen.

However, the UAE’s attorney general, Hamad al-Shamsi, said in a statement to the official news agency WAM that Hedges had confessed to the charges against him. There is no independent confirmation of this claim. Hedges was taken to court in Abu Dhabi twice in October, with the case being adjourned both times.

It was only after his third court appearance that he was allowed any legal representation.

Shamsi said Hedges was accused of “spying for a foreign country, jeopardising the military, political and economic security of the state”.

He added that the ruling “was not final” as Hedges has the right to appeal against the verdict before the federal supreme court.

Hedges has denied the charges, and maintains he was in the country to research the impact of the Arab spring on the UAE’s foreign policy.

Tejada boarded a plane to the UK on Wednesday where she was due to meet with the British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on Thursday to discuss the case.

Hunt tweeted on Wednesday:

Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) News on Matthew Hedges extremely worrying. We have seen no evidence to back up charges against him. FCO will do ALL we can to get him home & I will meet his wife Daniela tmrw. UAE claim to be friend & ally of the UK so there will be serious diplomatic consequences. Unacceptable.

At prime minister’s questions in the Commons on Wednesday, Theresa May said she was “deeply disappointed and concerned” about the case and would be raising it with the Emirati authorities.

“The Foreign Office will remain in close contact with Matthew, his family and his lawyer,” she told MPs. “We will continue to do all we can to support them as they consider the next steps and we will continue to press this matter at the highest level with the Emiratis.”

The angry British reaction to the sentence places Hunt, a relatively inexperienced foreign secretary, at odds on human rights issues with three of the most powerful countries in the Middle East – Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Hunt placed the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe at the heart of his visit to Iran this week. He is also privately appalled by Donald Trump’s decision to give a free pass to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, endorsed or covered up by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Few in the Foreign Office expected Hedges – at worst naïve, and at best innocent – to be given a life sentence for trying to carry out academic research into the UAE’s security politics.

The UAE for its part insists that when being cross-examined Hedges had pleaded guilty to all the charges laid against him. But there have been questions over the value of any confession given after many months in detention, largely in isolation.

Diplomatic relations between the UK and UAE are generally warm, and Hunt raised the Hedges case when he was in Dubai last week. The UAE’s foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, is a frequent and eloquent exponent of his country’s position during frequent visits to London, and he is widely respected.

But he has been one of the most staunch defenders of the UAE judiciary in this case, claiming that as a result of their investigations “unusual and embarrassing revelations about friends and allies had come to light”.

The UK will hope that the courts would relent on appeal, but for Hunt this is likely to be a test case if he is not released. He knows he is taking a risk by highlighting human rights cases, but feels determined to put ethics alongside commerce.

Hedges, who is originally from Exeter, had been in the country for two weeks when he was arrested.

His family have said he spent more than five and a half months in solitary confinement after his arrest, with no indication of the reason for his detention.

Tejada said that during the first six weeks he was interrogated without a lawyer or consular access, and held in “inhuman” conditions under which his mental health deteriorated. During this time he was allegedly made to sign a document in Arabic which it has now been disclosed was a confession statement. Hedges does not speak or read Arabic.

Prof John Williams, the head of the University of Durham’s school of government and international affairs where Hedges has been studying for his PhD, told the BBC: “We’re desperately worried about Matt’s welfare. He’s an innocent man – he’s been subjected to a terrible period of detention. The process of the trial has lacked any legitimacy or credibility, and his health is not good … We all hope, above everything else, that he will be home very soon.”

Hedges’ friend and fellow academic Cinzia Bianco told the Guardian he had chosen to study the UAE because he had spent part of his childhood in the country and his father still lived there.

She said: “Matthew considered the UAE even safer and closer to him because he has personal connections out there, so this has been incredibly shocking.

“We are even more outraged because this could happen to any of us. It could happen to me next month when I am conducting my own field work.”

She explained that Hedges would have had an initial contact in the UAE and would have made more connections during his work.

“You never know who you are going to speak to when you go out,” she said. “It is more of a connection on the ground and it leads to other people so you can’t get approval for every person that you are going to meet.”

Hedges has 30 days to appeal against the verdict.
Publisher Bloomsbury acquires Middle East and political publishing specialist I.B. Tauris.