In a widely anticipated move, Pearson announced last week that it intends to divest a number of the reference and business and professional units that it acquired from Simon &Schuster. The businesses were originally targeted to be sold as part of a package to the investment firm Hicks, Muse, Tate &Furst, but the deal was never completed. Following the collapse of the agreement, Pearson moved Macmillan Computer Publishing and Macmillan Digital Publishing into a new Pearson Education group but has not made any effort to integrate the other businesses into its operations.
The companies now on the block had sales of $250 million in 1997 and are said to be profitable. On the business and professional side, the companies up for sale are Appleton &Lange, Jossey-Bass, Master Data Center, Prentice Hall Direct and the Bureau of Business Practice. In reference, both Macmillan's general reference and library reference divisions are to be divested.
Analysts expect that the different companies, which are aimed at widely varying audiences, will be sold piecemeal. Possible buyers for the business and professional units include Reed Elsevier, Thomson Corp., Bertelsmann and the McGraw-Hill Cos.
The general reference division includes a number of well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Frommers, Howell Book House and JK Lasser; the library unit includes Schirmer Books, Charles Scribner's Sons Reference, Thorndike Press and Twayne Publishers.
The various units should attract a number of bidders, ranging from IDG Books -- which is interested in adding to its publishing brands -- to the Perseus Book Group and the Rowman &Littlefield Publishing Group, two companies interested in building a backlist and a library-driven business.
