Hachette’s Hodder & Stoughton is buying the independent, London-based, Quercus in a cash bid of £12.6 million. The price is some way below Quercus’ turnover (which was £20.4 million in 2012), but represents 144.9% of the value of the company’s shares (24.5p) at the close of business yesterday (24 March). Quercus shareholders will receive 60p per Quercus share.
Quercus announced in January that it expected to make a “significant loss” for the financial year 2013, and shortly afterwards released the news that it was up for sale. Following a period of expansion, the company had moved into new offices, set up in the US, established its own sales force, and made several significant book acquisitions that failed to produce bestsellers.
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