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Two Thompson

Units Form New

Int'l Business Press

Chapman & Hall and Routledge, business publishing divisions of the Thompson Corporation, have merged under the name, International Thompson Business Press. The new company remains part of the Thompson Corporation, one of the world's largest and most successful academic and professional publishing organizations.

Company spokesmen said the merger " represents a major force in business publishing. The new Business Press, builds on the existing reputation and quality of the Chapman & Hall imprints, and has made a renewed commitment to creativity, excellence and global publishing."

The company will focus exclusively on the business publishing markets, and will increase market penetration world-wide through Thompson's powerful international marketing and distribution networks.

The Business Press will collaborate with US sister companies South-Western and Wadsworth to develop new electronic publishing channels, and to provide quality learning and reference materials for students, lecturers, researchers and professionals around the world. E-mail: ITBP@ITPUK.co.uk

Harcourt General

Offers Top Dollar

To Acquire NEC

CHESNUT HILL, MA-- LATE MAY '97-- Harcourt General has announced it will acquire National Education Corp. of Irvine, CA in a cash stock transaction valued at about $800 million. As part of the agreement, HG will pay $30 million to Sylvan Learning Systems of Baltimore, MD, to terminate SLS's previously-announced a stock merger with NEC.

HG purchased NEC at a premium price in order to bolster the Harcourt Brace and Holt, Rinehart & Winston divisions' strength in high-growth traditional textbook markets. With the sale, HG will become an immediate force in the K-12 supplemental market, an area the company has coveted for years, through NEC's Steck Vaughn unit.

Steck-Vaughn will operate as Harcourt's new supplemental unit, and will work closely with Harcourt Brace and Holt, Rinehart & Winston to capitalize the growing market.

Glencoe-McGraw-Hill

Buys South-Western

Product Lines

South-Western Educational Publishing, a division of Thompson Corporation, has sold certain product lines to Glencoe/McGraw-Hill for an undisclosed amount.

The sale includes Thompson Learning Tools (TLT), a line of print and software materials for middle schools, and technology education.

S-W has been selling product lines considered not close to its core businesses. The TLT and TE lines are good fits for Glencoe, and bring added clout in markets where Glencoe is already strong.

Glencoe/M-H, based in Westerville, Ohio, is a division of McGraw-Hill's educational and professional publishing group, which focuses on the elementary, secondary, testing, vocational and post-secondary markets. S-W is a division of the International Thompson Organization. The company publishes instructional materials in business education, computer education, social studies and mathematics.

Times Mirror

Completes Sale

Of Abrams Art Books

LOS ANGELES, CA/ LATE MAY '97-- Times Mirror has completed the sale of its art book publisher, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., to Groupe Latingy, the leading French art and illustrated book publisher for an undisclosed sum. As part of the terms, Times Mirror retains a minority interest in Groupe Latingy.

Times Mirror (TMC--New York and Pacific stock exchanges), a Los Angeles- based news and information company, publishes the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers; consumer magazines, and a variety of other publications.

Simon & Schuster

Sells Coronet/MTI

To Phoenix Learning

NEW YORK, NY/ LATE MAY '97--Simon & Schuster, the publishing arm of Viacom Inc. (AMEX: VIA and VIAB), has sold Coronet/MTI's proprietary library of educational and training videos to Phoenix Learning Group, Inc.

Simon & Schuster will retain broadcast rights to Coronet's 5,000 video and film titles. S&S's Educational Management Group (EMG) will air the programs to 4,000 schools nationwide, via satellite television. The titles will become part of EMG's larger daily programming into schools.

HarperCollins

Merges Units;

Cuts 12 Jobs

HarperCollins has merged its Basic Books and Harper Reference imprints into the Adult Trade division, eliminating nine editorial jobs in Basic Books and three in the Reference unit.

Paul Golob and Gail Winston have moved to the Adult Trade division as senior editors, Linda Cunningham remains as publishing director of Reference and Audio. Basic Vice President John Donatich is leaving the company.

B&N Wages

Jugular War

On Amazon.com

Brief Chronology

The last two weeks in May could be marked among the bloodiest in on-line bookselling. The giant Barnes & Noble Bookstores (with more than 1,000 stores and 1996 sales of $2.4 billion) intensified its attack against tiny Amazon.com, the trailblazing on-line bookstore that sold only $15.7 million worth of books last year from slightly run-down headquarters in Seattle.

Barnes & Noble began a series of calculated--some say vicious-- maneuvers just as Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) launched an IPO to raise $430 million in the public marketplace. Amazon.com has been selling books on-line since 1995. Barnes & Noble launched its own web site (http://www.barnesandnoble.com) just two days before Amazon.com stock began trading, then B&N filed suit in New York federal court against its tiny competitor for false advertising. Barnes & Noble says Amazon.com's claim to be the "world's largest bookstore" is misleading.

Here, at a glance, is a partial chronology of events:

Monday, March 24--Amazon.com files to go public, and later enters SEC-required silent period, forbidden to make any public statements

Monday, May 12--Barnes & Noble files suit seeking to block Amazon.com from calling itself the "world's largest bookstore."

Tuesday, May 13--Barnes & Noble launches its own on-line book store, claiming more than one million titles available at prices far below Amazon.com. The site extended the company's on-line presence, which began earlier this year with another site located inside America On-line.

Thursday, May 15--Amazon.com (AMZN) stock begins trading on NASDAQ at $18 per share, 50% higher than Amazon's target of $12 in late March. At the opening bell on IPO day, the stock was at $29.25, and headed as high as $30.

Friday, May 16--Book Stacks Unlimited (http://www.books.com) announced it will discount all New York Times bestsellers by 40% off the suggested retail price.

Wednesday, May 21--BarnesandNoble.com, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), billing itself as "the world's largest bookseller," announces an agreement with The New York Times Electronic Media Company making it the exclusive provider of book fulfillment for the Times' on-line book section, The New York Times on the Web Books (http://www.nyutimes.com/books). The agreement also includes a link on America On-line from BarnesandNoble@aol to The new York Times on America On-line (Keyword: Times).

Thursday, May 22--Barnes & Noble announces a 17.1 % increase in total revenues for the first quarter ended May 3, 1997. Revenues rise to $595.7 million, up from $508.8 million a year ago. The company also reports an operating profit of $3.1 million for the first quarter, compared with an operating loss of $0.1) million during the first quarter a year ago.

Tuesday, May 27-- BarnesandNoble.com, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), partners with a complementary book site on America On-line (NYSE: AOL): Book Central. Book Central will take on the same look and feel of BarnesandNoble.com in what BarnesandNoble.com calls "co-branding." The Book Central site will enable direct links between it and BarnesandNoble.com's AOL site (BarnesandNoble@AOL). BarnesandNoble.com (AOL Keyword: Barnes and Noble) is the exclusive bookseller on AOL's Marketplace channel. Book Central (AOL Keyword: BC) is located in the "Books and Writing" category of the Learning & Culture channel on AOL.

Wednesday, May 28-- Shares in Amazon.com surged as trading opened 63 per cent higher than the initial offer price. After the euphoria subsided, Amazon shares were trading by early afternoon at $25. At this higher price, the company was valued at $575 million.

While analysts say it is too early to tell who will win in the on-line bookselling fray, most agree that Barnes & Nobles lawsuit will not significantly affect stock trading for Amazon.com.

Britannica To Market

Encyclopaedias

In Bookstores

CHICAGO, IL/LATE MAY '97--Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB) will begin marketing its 32-volume encyclopedia through bookstores this fall. The printed material will be bundled with EB's CD-ROM version and priced at $1,500 per package. Merriam-Webster (MW), an EB subsidiary, will distribute the products.

EB can be ordered at bookstores and shipped directly from EB, enabling booksellers to provide floor space for only one display set.

EB, bought by Switzerland-based Safra Group in 1996, stopped selling door-to-door in May, 1996 and began marketing through direct mail. The company's 1996 revenues were $407 million.

Fox Enters

Made-For-Video

Market With 'Casper'

CENTURY CITY, CA/ LATE MAY '97 -- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) will enter the made-for-video marketplace with one of the strongest character franchises this fall. CASPER, A SPIRITED BEGINNING makes an exclusive, only-on-video premiere September 9 in more than 100,000 retail outlets across North America.

Fox--in partnership with The Harvey Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: HRVY) and Saban Entertainment--will spend $30 million to market the family-friendly, live-action and animation product.

CASPER, A SPIRITED BEGINNING is billed as the movie that finally answers the question: How did Casper become the friendly ghost? The adventure stars Casper and the ghostly Trio, Fatso, Stinkie and Stretch, the same film characters first seen in the 1995 $300 million, worldwide box-office and video "Casper." The new video release will retail for $19.98 and the laser disc version for $29.98.

Christian Publisher

Nelson, Inc. Sees

Revenues Increase

NASHVILLE, TN/ LATE MAY '97 -- Thomas Nelson Inc. (NYSE: TNM) reported a 10.7 percent increase in revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1997, compared to the previous year. Current year-end sales totaled $243.4 million, and earnings from continuing operations rose to $9.5 million, or $0.56 per share, vs. a $0.06 per share loss in the previous fiscal year.

The company provides books and other products in the Christian and inspirational fields.

Books-A-Million

Posts 21% Gain

In First Quarter

BIRMINGHAM, ALA/LATE MAY '97--Books-A-Million, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:BAMM) posted record revenues for the first quarter ended May 3, 1997. Net sales increased to $68.2 million, a 21% increase from $56.6 million for the same period in 1996.

The improved performance was attributed to strong sales in books--including novels by John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark and Danielle Steel-- and a broad group of other products. Oprah's Book Club continued to attract customers, along with healthy sales in non-fiction titles. Leading titles included Angela's Ashes, Simple Abundance, The Arthritis Cure, and the "Chicken Soup" series.

Books-A-Million opened two new superstores during the quarter. The chain operates 153 retail bookstores in 17 Southeastern states.

Advanced Marketing

Enjoys Record Sales

In Fiscal 1997