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Tribune Education to Acquire Landoll for $80 Million
Jim Milliot -- 11/24/97
In a deal that had been rumored for months, Tribune Education, a division of the Tribune Co., has signed an agreement to acquire 80.5% of Landoll Inc. for about $80 million. The deal is expected to close in December.
Landoll is the nation's eighth largest children's book publisher with estimated revenues of $71 million for the year that ended June 30, 1997. The company, founded in 1971 by Jim Landoll, has experienced rapid growth in recent years, including a 36.5% gain last year as it expanded its presence in the lower-priced end of the market. Landoll focuses on coloring books, activity books, storybooks, sticker books and educational books and puzzles that are sold in more than 150,000 retail outlets.
After the deal is completed, Landoll will operate as a stand-alone unit and remained based in Ashland, Ohio. Jim Landoll and Marty Myers will continue to oversee the company's operations and will report to Robert Bosau, president of Tribune Education. Landoll and Myers will retain a 19.5% stake in Landoll, although Tribune has the right to acquire the remainder of the company at a later date.
Bosau said that the purchase of Landoll "opens a new market channel for Tribune Education. Access to the mass market will expand distribution of our consumer books and provide an opportunity to adapt our education content for the consumer market." A spokesperson for Tribune said that for the immediate future it will be "business as usual" at Landoll. "We will be cautious in making any changes that could hurt Landoll's success story." The spokesperson added that Landoll management, along with that of Tribune Education, will look to see if any economies of scale can be achieved with other Tribune Education units.
The Landoll purchase will give Tribune Education, which has focused on the supplemental education market, more of a presence in the consumer market. For the nine months that ended Sept. 29, 1997, sales in the division rose 15%, to $176.5 million, although operating profit fell 7%, to $35.3 million.The acquisition of Landoll marked Tribune's second purchase in little over a month. In a smaller deal, the company's NTC/Contemporary Publishing Co. unit acquired Country Roads Press, a travel publisher based in Oaks, Pa. The company, which has about 110 titles, will be moved to NTC's headquarters in Lincolnwood, Ill., although it will remain a separate imprint under the NTC/Contemporary banner. Country Roads focuses on regional and rural destinations in the U.S. and Canada.
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