Macmillan, Springer to Merge

Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and BC Partners have reached an agreement to merge Springer Science + Business Media with the majority of Holtzbrinck-owned Macmillan Science and Education, creating a publishing group with €1.5 billion in sales and 13,000 employees.

Quad/Graphics to Buy Courier Corp.

Quad/Graphics has reached an agreement to acquire Courier Corp. in a deal the companies valued at $260 million. Quad/Graphics will pay Courier the equivalent of $20.50 per share, in a combination of cash and stock. Courier’s stock priced closed at $14.49 on Jan. 15.

November Bookstore Sales Dropped 2.5%

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that bookstore sales hit $736 million in November, down 2.5% from the $755 million reported in November 2013, according to a report released Jan. 14.

Oyster, Scribd Add Macmillan Titles

E-book subscription services Oyster and Scribd have both added another Big Five publisher: each announced that it now features 1,000 titles from Macmillan. Oyster now claims to offer over one million titles; Scribd claims more than 500,000. Each says the number of frontlist titles on its list is growing.