HM Completes Harcourt Purchase
by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 12/12/2007 9:07:00 AM
Houghton Mifflin has completed its purchase of Harcourt’s U.S. education group for $4 billion, an acquisition that includes not only Harcourt’s American el-hi operations but its trade (Harcourt Trade) and reference (Greenwood-Heinemann) divisions. With the closing, HM is renaming the combination Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company with Tony Lucki serving as chairman and CEO. The addition of Harcourt, which had sales of about $1.1 billion, will create a company with total revenue of $2.5 billion.
In a statement, Lucki said, “We welcome our Harcourt colleagues and anticipate a smooth and efficient transition for our employees, customers and all or our other stakeholders. We plan to move quickly toward a fully integrated operation.” That integration will need to deal with a workforce that is now scattered in offices across the country, including major operations in Boston, San Diego and New York. A HM spokesperson had few details on how the integration will proceed, noting only that he expects the process “to be particularly robust in the first 90 days.” Lucki is heading up the integration team
