AAP July 2024 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Up 18.1% for Month of July, and Up 7.6% Year-To-Date

Torstar Corporation announced that the Torstar board of directors has determined to continue to recommend the proposed acquisition by NordStar Capital LP of all of the issued and outstanding Class A shares and Class B non-voting shares of Torstar by way of a statutory plan of arrangement at a price of $0.74 per Share. On July 11, 2020, Torstar announced that it had entered into an amendment to the arrangement agreement dated May 26, 2020 between Torstar and NordStar to provide for the increased purchase price, which constitutes an increase of 17.5% from the $0.63 per Share payable under the original NordStar Agreement.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $19.64 billion for the retail month of May, the four weeks ended June 2, 2024, an increase of 8.1 percent from $18.16 billion last year. Net sales for the first 39 weeks were $186.07 billion, an increase of 6.9 percent from $174.07 billion last year.

On April 19, 2024, the Association of American Publishers, joined by the American Booksellers for Free Expression, Authors Guild, Inc., Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Educational Book and Media Association, Freedom to Learn Advocates, Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Inc., Independent Book Publishers Association, National Press Photographers Association, National Writers Union and Sisters in Crime, filed an amicus brief in Iowa in support of the plaintiffs in two lawsuits, filed in November 2023, challenging provisions of SF 496, a 2023 law that violates constitutional standards by censoring books for students in a vague and overbroad fashion. The lawsuits, Penguin Random House, LLC. v. Robbins and GLBT Youth in IA Schools, Etc. v. Reynolds, were filed in November 2023 by plaintiff groups that include publishers, renowned authors, educators, and students.