Hachette Expands Basic Books Group

Shutterfly announced an agreement to acquire Spoonflower, a global marketplace connecting makers and consumers with artists worldwide, in an accretive acquisition for approximately $225 million of enterprise value subject to certain working capital and other adjustments. The acquisition will enable Shutterfly to more broadly serve the fast-growing home decor marketplace by adding Spoonflower wallpaper, fabric, linens, bedding and other home decor soft goods to its product assortment and connecting Shutterfly’s 21 million active users to Spoonflower’s artists and design community. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. “We are excited to welcome Spoonflower to the Shutterfly family of brands,” said Hilary Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of Shutterfly. “Millions of consumers use Spoonflower to make and upload their own designs on premium fabric, wallpaper and home decor, ignite their entrepreneurial spirit by launching small businesses or express their personal style by shopping the marketplace of more than one million designs. Driven by its passionate creative community and a visionary management team, Spoonflower has also experienced explosive growth over the last 18 months amid the thriving DIY consumer movement. It’s a highly complementary strategic fit for Shutterfly and a win/win for consumers, employees, and members of our creative community alike.” 

Improving trend in Q3 with a strong performance in Global Online Learning; North American Courseware and Global Assessment in line with expectations; and International further impacted by COVID-19 *At the nine months, Group sales declined by 14% largely reflecting the continuing impact of COVID-19 and test centre and school closures in Global Assessment and International, and expected declines in North American Courseware. *Global Online Learning sales grew 14% due to 41% enrolment growth in Virtual Schools for the academic year 2020/2021 and strong sales growth in Online Program Management (OPM) driven by undergraduate and international performance, partially offset by discontinued programs. *Global Assessment sales declined 19% due to the impact of test centre closures in Professional Certification (Pearson VUE), cancellation of spring testing in US Student Assessment and school closures impacting Clinical Assessment. *North American Courseware declined 14% with a stronger adoption performance in the Fall in US Higher Education Courseware and good growth in digital and subscription take up leading to the faster decline of higher priced package and print sales. *International declined 24% due to the impact of COVID-19 and as the associated economic effects intensified in several key markets, predominantly affecting public and private spending on courseware and assessments. *Pearson retains a strong balance sheet and significant financial headroom.

“Execution of our long-term growth strategies, customer demand for the unique value of our broad portfolio of solutions and healthy growth in the global economy are driving our performance,” said Frederick W. Smith, FedEx Corp. chairman and chief executive officer. “We expect strong operating performance in each of our transportation segments in the fourth quarter.” Operating results benefited from higher base rates, increased volume at FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight, and a favorable net impact from fuel. Results were negatively affected by significantly higher variable compensation accruals, increased peak-related costs at FedEx Express and the impact of adverse weather. Variable compensation increased in connection with the company’s pay actions that were announced following the passage of the TCJA. These variable compensation accruals include the year-to-date impact of the announced changes. TNT Express integration expenses were also higher. Click Read More below for additional information.