Reuters reports that Berteslmann, Random House‘s parent company, said on Tuesday it was keen to target acquisitions in education publishing as it posted a first-half loss due largely to litigation costs. Bertelsmann Chief Financial Officer Thomas Rabe said the company should be in a position to make significant acquisitions from next year and said it will have between 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) and 1.5 billion to buy new businesses annually.
Net income dropped 85 percent on the cost of litigation over Internet music company Napster (after Bertelsmann settled a lawsuit filed by the National Music Publisher’s Association that said the company’s investment in Napster encouraged abuse of copyrighted content, resulting in 243 million euros in payment for settlements) as well as a fall in earnings and revenue at its book and music units.