President Biden Announces Nominees

Bertelsmann closed the first half of 2021 with a record operating result of €1.4 billion. The international media, services, and education company generated revenues significantly above the previous year’s and pre-Corona levels, as well as its highest Group result in 19 years. Four of the eight business units each recorded double-digit organic growth rates. For the full year, the company expects its business to continue to develop positively and anticipates Group profit of close to two billion euros. Bertelsmann’s first-half consolidated revenues increased by 10.7 percent over the previous year to €8.7 billion (H1 2020: €7.8 billion). Organic growth was 16.6 percent year-on-year, and 7.1 percent compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. The RTL Group, Penguin Random House, Gruner + Jahr, and Arvato divisions each recorded double-digit organic-growth rates. Operating EBITDA improved significantly to €1.4 billion (H1 2020: €1.0 billion), marking a new record. RTL Group, Penguin Random House and Arvato once again proved to be the strongest earnings pillars in the Bertelsmann Group.

In an interesting and potentially significant move for the scholarly publishing world, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has granted a preliminary injunction against a major journal publisher and conference organizer in response to a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The injunction was granted on the basis of the Court’s analysis of evidence provided by the FTC and its finding that the FTC’s complaint, if allowed to proceed, “is likely to succeed on the merits” and that the public interest would be served by granting it. The FTC alleges that OMICS Group and its affiliates iMedPub LLC and Conference Series Ltd have engaged in a variety of “unfair and deceptive practices with respect to the publication of online academic journals and organization of scientific conferences,” including: •Falsely claiming to provide rigorous peer review of articles submitted for publication in their journals; •Claiming as “editors” individuals who never received manuscripts to review or edit, or who never even agreed to be appointed as editors — some of whom say that OMICS ignored or refused their demands that they be removed from journal mastheads; •Sending solicitations to potential authors on behalf of other academics, without the latter’s permission or knowledge; •Giving their journals names “nearly identical to other respected journals, which has led to consumers mistakenly submitting articles to Defendants’ journal”; Click Read More below for additional information.

Xerox announced that, at 5:00 p.m. ET on May 13, 2018, it notified Fujifilm that the previously announced transaction agreement to combine Xerox with Fuji Xerox is being terminated in accordance with its terms due to, among other things, the failure by Fujifilm to deliver the audited financials of Fuji Xerox by April 15, 2018 and the material deviations reflected in the audited financials of Fuji Xerox, when delivered, from the unaudited financial statements of Fuji Xerox and its subsidiaries provided to Xerox prior to the date of the Subscription Agreement and taking into account other circumstances limiting the ability of the Company, Fujifilm and Fuji Xerox to consummate a transaction. Thereafter, Xerox entered into a new settlement agreement with Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason. Click Read More below for additional information.