Putnam Berkley Seeks to Purchase Price Stern Sloan
MCA Inc.’s Putnam Berkley Group, seeking to expand further into the strong children’s publishing market, said it is negotiating to buy Los Angeles-based Price Stern Sloan Inc., best known for its top-selling “Wee Sing” cassettes and videos, for about $40 million.
The two companies confirmed that an agreement has been signed allowing Putnam Berkley to negotiate exclusively for at least 30 days to buy Price Stern Sloan at $9.625 a share.
In addition, Price Stern Sloan founders Lawrence Sloan and Leonard Stern have granted Putnam Berkley options on the 30% of the company stock they hold.
Price Stern Sloan last year earned $1.4 million on $42.4 million in sales. About $33 million of its sales come from children’s products, with about $18 million related to the “Wee Sing” line of audiocassettes and videos.
Price Stern Sloan’s other areas of business include humor books, educational products, puzzles and games.
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