By Kevin McCauley
Kekst and Co. is handling the “pre-packaged” bankruptcy filing of venerable publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which aims to slash $3.1B debt from its balance sheet.
Founded in 1832, HMH blames the global financial crisis combined with declines in state and local spending for school books as the reason for the financial restructuring.
The reorganization will reduce HMH’s annual interest costs by about $250M. It has linked up a $500 financing commitment from Citibank.
Linda Zecher, CEO of HMH, said a “more appropriately sized capital structure” will better position the company to exploit its “world-class brand and innovative digital education solutions” for a period of accelerated growth.
HMH books and education services are used by 57M students in the U.S. and 120 other countries. It was publisher of Ralph Waldo Emerson and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Kekst’s Kimberly Kriger handles the HMH reorganization. France’s Publicis Groupe owns Kekst.
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