News Corp Reaches Agreement to Acquire Consumer-Publishing Division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt



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News Corp is set to close a deal to buy the consumer arm of educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co., according to people familiar with the matter, which would mark the media company’s second contract in less than a year. week.

The deal, which people believe could be announced as early as Monday, would add a portfolio of high-profile novels from authors such as George Orwell, Philip Roth and JRR Tolkien to News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers division. Terms of the deal could not be learned.

The sale would see Boston-based Houghton pay off debt and focus on its digital-first strategy in education, goals the company set itself when it put HMH Books & Media on the block last fall.

The deal says New York-based News Corp, which in addition to HarperCollins owns the Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. and news agencies in the UK and Australia, among others, is seeking to grow through select acquisitions after a period of weight loss through sales of non-core businesses.

News Corp is focusing its investments in growth areas such as books, digital real estate and the Dow Jones unit, a person familiar with the situation said.

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