With the sale of Macmillan Publishing USA to Hicks, Muse, Tate &Furst off, Scott Flanders, who was to lead the company, will leave the publishing house at the end of the year.
In a memo to employees, Flanders noted that "since Macmillan's businesses will now be divided into different units within a much larger organization, there will no longer be a role for me with comparable responsibilities." As a result, Flanders said, he will be leaving Macmillan after assisting Pearson Education CEO Peter Jovanovich and Henry Hirschberg, president of the college division, with the transition. Flanders told PW he hopes to find another position in the publishing industry.
The collapse of the deal with Hicks, Muse has Pearson scrambling on how to organize the Macmillan Publishing USA assets. One of the few definitive decisions is that Macmillan Computer Publishing will become part of Hirschberg's higher education group. The computer operations are expected to remain headquartered in Indianapolis and few layoffs are expected.
Things are much less clear about the remainder of Macmillan Publishing USA, particularly the consumer general reference division that was to have been headed by Gordon Macomber. At press time last week, Pearson had made no announcement about how the general reference group will be organized.
The failure of Hicks, Muse to go through with the acquisition of Macmillan Publishing USA also put an end to plans to expand the company with the ultimate goal of taking the company public by the end of 1999.
