Irish company completes Houghton Mifflin acquisition
BOSTON --HM Rivergroup said Friday it completed its $1.75 billion acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Co., the fourth-largest textbook publisher in the United States.
The newly formed Irish holding company, led by Riverdeep Inc. Chief Executive Barry O'Callaghan, said it will rename itself Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group after it combines Houghton Mifflin with its Riverdeep Holdings Ltd.
HM Rivergroup bought Houghton Mifflin from private investment firms Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners and The Blackstone Group for $1.75 billion in cash and assumed $1.61 billion in debt.
O'Callaghan is a former investment banker from Ireland and a controlling shareholder of San Francisco-based Riverdeep.
The newly formed venture hopes to better position itself against larger rivals
Boston-based Houghton Mifflin traces its origins to 1832. It was home to early American authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, as well as J.R.R. Tolkien.
