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82-408: Between 1952 and 1968, the books had a letter-series identifier; after that date they were given five-digit numeric serial numbers. The list given here includes every Ace Double Book published between 1952 and 1978, for all genres. It gives a date of publication; in all cases this refers to the date of publication by Ace, and not the date of original publication of the novels. For more information about

164-401: A merger is the legal consolidation of two business entities into one, whereas an acquisition occurs when one entity takes ownership of another entity's share capital , equity interests or assets . From a legal and financial point of view, both mergers and acquisitions generally result in the consolidation of assets and liabilities under one entity, and the distinction between the two

246-837: A freelance editor, launching a new series of Ace Specials devoted entirely to first novels. This series was even more successful than the first: it included, in 1984 alone, William Gibson 's Neuromancer , Kim Stanley Robinson 's The Wild Shore , Lucius Shepard 's Green Eyes , and Michael Swanwick 's In the Drift . All were first novels by authors now regarded as major figures in the genre. Other prominent science fiction publishing figures who have worked at Ace include Tom Doherty , who left to start Tor Books , and Jim Baen , who left to work at Tor and who eventually founded Baen Books . Writers who have worked at Ace include Frederik Pohl and Ellen Kushner . In 1996, Penguin Group (USA) acquired

328-508: A book without a valid contract went to the printer, and Wollheim later found out that the author, who was owed $ 3,000 by Ace, was reduced to picking fruit for a living. Both Wollheim and Carr left Ace in 1971. Wollheim had made plans to launch a separate paperback house, and in cooperation with New American Library , he proceeded to set up DAW Books . Carr became a freelance editor; both Carr and Wollheim went on to edit competing Year's Best Science Fiction anthology series. In 1969 Ace Books

410-405: A business retain just a handful of key players that would have otherwise left. Organizations should move rapidly to re-recruit key managers. It's much easier to succeed with a team of quality players that one selects deliberately rather than try to win a game with those who randomly show up to play. Mergers and acquisitions often create brand problems, beginning with what to call the company after

492-555: A business, which accrues to both categories of stakeholders, is called the Enterprise Value (EV), whereas the value which accrues just to shareholders is the Equity Value (also called market capitalization for publicly listed companies). Enterprise Value reflects a capital structure neutral valuation and is frequently a preferred way to compare value as it is not affected by a company's, or management's, strategic decision to fund

574-486: A certain size. An acquisition/takeover is the purchase of one business or company by another company or other business entity. Specific acquisition targets can be identified through myriad avenues, including market research, trade expos, sent up from internal business units, or supply chain analysis. Such purchase may be of 100%, or nearly 100%, of the assets or ownership equity of the acquired entity. A consolidation/amalgamation occurs when two companies combine to form

656-473: A function of their acquisition activity. Therefore, additional motives for merger and acquisition that may not add shareholder value include: The M&A process itself is a multifaceted which depends upon the type of merging companies. The M&A process results in the restructuring of a business's purpose, corporate governance and brand identity. An arm's length merger is a merger: ″The two elements are complementary and not substitutes. The first element

738-475: A further series of sf doubles published by Tor Books between 1988 and 1991, the Tor Double Novels . Because the tête-bêche format is part of the attraction for some collectors, titles published between 1974 and 1978, which contained two titles by one or two authors but which are not tête-bêche, are not regarded by some collectors as true Ace Doubles. All the books are included in the list given below, with

820-433: A larger and/or longer-established company and retain the name of the latter for the post-acquisition combined entity. This is known as a reverse takeover . Another type of acquisition is the reverse merger , a form of transaction that enables a private company to be publicly listed in a relatively short time frame. A reverse merger is a type of merger where a privately held company, typically one with promising prospects and

902-426: A merger or acquisition transaction can range from political to tactical. Ego can drive choice just as well as rational factors such as brand value and costs involved with changing brands. Beyond the bigger issue of what to call the company after the transaction comes the ongoing detailed choices about what divisional, product and service brands to keep. The detailed decisions about the brand portfolio are covered under

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984-444: A need for financing, acquires a publicly listed shell company that has few assets and no significant business operations. The combined evidence suggests that the shareholders of acquired firms realize significant positive "abnormal returns," while shareholders of the acquiring company are most likely to experience a negative wealth effect. Most studies indicate that M&A transactions have a positive net effect, with investors in both

1066-433: A new enterprise altogether, and neither of the previous companies remains independently owned. Acquisitions are divided into "private" and "public" acquisitions, depending on whether the acquiree or merging company (also termed a target ) is or is not publicly listed. Some public companies rely on acquisitions as an important value creation strategy. An additional dimension or categorization consists of whether an acquisition

1148-426: A price. The following is a list of letter series with their date ranges and prices. The first series of Ace books began in 1952 with D-01, a western in tête-bêche format: Keith Vining's Too Hot for Hell backed with Samuel W. Taylor 's The Grinning Gismo . That series continued until D-599, Patricia Libby's Winged Victory for Nurse Kerry , but the series also included several G and S serial numbers, depending on

1230-434: A situation where one company splits into two, generating a second company which may or may not become separately listed on a stock exchange. As per knowledge-based views, firms can generate greater values through the retention of knowledge-based resources which they generate and integrate. Extracting technological benefits during and after acquisition is an ever-challenging issue because of organizational differences. Based on

1312-550: A special committee of independent directors; and 2) conditioned on an affirmative vote of a majority of the minority stockholders, the business judgment standard of review should presumptively apply, and any plaintiff ought to have to plead particularized facts that, if true, support an inference that, despite the facially fair process, the merger was tainted because of fiduciary wrongdoing.″ A Strategic merger usually refers to long-term strategic holding of target (Acquired) firm. This type of M&A process aims at creating synergies in

1394-468: A total value of US$ 2,164.4 bil. Some of the largest mergers of equals took place during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and in the year 2000: AOL and Time Warner (US$ 164 bil.), SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome (US$ 75 bil.), Citicorp and Travelers Group (US$ 72 bil.). More recent examples this type of combinations are DuPont and Dow Chemical (US$ 62 bil.) and Praxair and Linde (US$ 35 bil.). An analysis of 1,600 companies across industries revealed

1476-456: Is friendly or hostile . Achieving acquisition success has proven to be very difficult, while various studies have shown that 50% of acquisitions were unsuccessful. "Serial acquirers" appear to be more successful with M&A than companies who make acquisitions only occasionally (see Douma & Schreuder, 2013, chapter 13). The new forms of buy out created since the crisis are based on serial type acquisitions known as an ECO Buyout which

1558-474: Is a co-community ownership buy out and the new generation buy outs of the MIBO (Management Involved or Management & Institution Buy Out) and MEIBO (Management & Employee Involved Buy Out). Whether a purchase is perceived as being "friendly" or "hostile" depends significantly on how the proposed acquisition is communicated to and perceived by the target company's board of directors, employees, and shareholders. It

1640-577: Is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn . It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns , and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first science fiction title in 1953. This was successful, and science fiction titles outnumbered both mysteries and westerns within a few years. Other genres also made an appearance, including nonfiction, gothic novels, media tie-in novelizations , and romances . Ace became known for

1722-426: Is a triangular merger, where the target company merges with a shell company wholly owned by the buyer, thus becoming a subsidiary of the buyer. In a "forward triangular merger ", the target company merges into the subsidiary, with the subsidiary as the surviving company of the merger; a "reverse triangular merger" is similar except that the subsidiary merges into the target company, with the target company surviving

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1804-425: Is between two competitors in the same industry. A vertical merger occurs when two firms combine across the value chain, such as when a firm buys a former supplier (backward integration) or a former customer (forward integration). When there is no strategic relatedness between an acquiring firm and its target, this is called a conglomerate merger (Douma & Schreuder, 2013). The form of merger most often employed

1886-399: Is combined into another entity by operation of the corporate law statute(s) of the jurisdiction of the merging entities. In a transaction structured as a merger or an equity purchase, the buyer acquires all of the assets and liabilities of the acquired entity. In a transaction structured as an asset purchase, the buyer and seller agree on which assets and liabilities the buyer will acquire from

1968-425: Is complete, the parties may proceed to draw up a definitive agreement, known as a "merger agreement", "share purchase agreement," or "asset purchase agreement" depending on the structure of the transaction. Such contracts are typically 80 to 100 pages long and focus on five key types of terms: Following the closing of a deal, adjustments may be made to some of the provisions outlined in the purchase agreement, such as

2050-426: Is important because the directors have the capability to act as effective and active bargaining agents, which disaggregated stockholders do not. But, because bargaining agents are not always effective or faithful, the second element is critical, because it gives the minority stockholders the opportunity to reject their agents' work. Therefore, when a merger with a controlling stockholder was: 1) negotiated and approved by

2132-412: Is normal for M&A deal communications to take place in a so-called "confidentiality bubble," wherein the flow of information is restricted pursuant to confidentiality agreements. In the case of a friendly transaction, the companies cooperate in negotiations; in the case of a hostile deal, the board and/or management of the target is unwilling to be bought or the target's board has no prior knowledge of

2214-702: Is not always clear. Most countries require mergers and acquisitions to comply with antitrust or competition law . In the United States , for example, the Clayton Act outlaws any merger or acquisition that may "substantially lessen competition" or "tend to create a monopoly ", and the Hart–Scott–Rodino Act requires notifying the U.S. Department of Justice 's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission about any merger or acquisition over

2296-445: Is not known. The list also gives a date of publication; in all cases this refers to the date of publication by Ace, and not necessarily the date of original publication of the novels. The list is thought to be complete, but there may be minor omissions among the later lists. For more information about the history of these titles, see Ace Books , which includes a discussion of the serial numbering conventions used and an explanation of

2378-415: Is possible only when resources are exchanged and managed without affecting their independence. A corporate acquisition can be structured legally as either an "asset purchase" in which the seller sells business assets and liabilities to the buyer, an "equity purchase" in which the buyer purchases equity interests in a target company from one or more selling shareholders or a "merger" in which one legal entity

2460-460: Is provided by full-service investment banks- who often advise and handle the biggest deals in the world (called bulge bracket ) - and specialist M&A firms, who provide M&A only advisory, generally to mid-market, select industries and SBEs. Highly focused and specialized M&A advice investment banks are called boutique investment banks . The dominant rationale used to explain M&;A activity

2542-487: Is that acquiring firms seek improved financial performance or reduce risk. The following motives are considered to improve financial performance or reduce risk: Megadeals—deals of at least one $ 1 billion in size—tend to fall into four discrete categories: consolidation, capabilities extension, technology-driven market transformation, and going private. On average and across the most commonly studied variables, acquiring firms' financial performance does not positively change as

List of Ace double titles - Misplaced Pages Continue

2624-428: The tête-bêche binding format used for many of its early books, although it did not originate the format. Most of the early titles were published in this "Ace Double" format, and Ace continued to issue books in varied genres, bound tête-bêche , until 1973. Ace, along with Ballantine Books , was one of the leading science fiction publishers for its first ten years of operation. The death of owner A. A. Wyn in 1967 set

2706-521: The Hudson's Bay Company merged with the rival North West Company . The Great Merger Movement was a predominantly U.S. business phenomenon that happened from 1895 to 1905. During this time, small firms with little market share consolidated with similar firms to form large, powerful institutions that dominated their markets, such as the Standard Oil Company , which at its height controlled nearly 90% of

2788-437: The "Ace Double" name in 1974, the books were arranged conventionally rather than tête-bêche . Ace's second title was a western (also tête-bêche ): William Colt MacDonald 's Bad Man's Return , bound with J. Edward Leithead 's Bloody Hoofs . Mysteries and westerns alternated regularly for the first thirty titles, with a few books not in either genre, such as P. G. Wodehouse 's Quick Service , bound with his The Code of

2870-791: The Great Merger Movement were able to keep their dominance in their respective sectors through 1929, and in some cases today, due to growing technological advances of their products, patents , and brand recognition by their customers. There were also other companies that held the greatest market share in 1905 but at the same time did not have the competitive advantages of the companies like DuPont and General Electric . These companies such as International Paper and American Chicle saw their market share decrease significantly by 1929 as smaller competitors joined forces with each other and provided much more competition. The companies that merged were mass producers of homogeneous goods that could exploit

2952-591: The Putnam Berkley Group, and has retained Ace as its science fiction imprint. As of December 2012, recently published authors included Joe Haldeman , Charles Stross , Laurell K. Hamilton , Alastair Reynolds , and Jack McDevitt . Penguin merged with Random House in 2013 to form Penguin Random House , which continues to own Berkley. Ace's editorial team is also responsible for the Roc Books imprint, although

3034-613: The Woosters . In 1953, A. E. van Vogt 's The World of Null-A , bound with his The Universe Maker , appeared; this was Ace's first foray into science fiction. (Earlier in 1953, Ace had released Theodore S. Drachman 's Cry Plague! , with a plot that could be regarded as science fiction, but the book it was bound with— Leslie Edgley 's The Judas Goat —is a mystery.) Another science fiction double followed later in 1953, and science fiction rapidly established itself, alongside westerns and mysteries, as an important part of Ace's business. By 1955,

3116-450: The acquiring company's stock, issued to the shareholders of the acquired company at a given ratio proportional to the valuation of the latter. They receive stock in the company that is purchasing the smaller subsidiary. There are some elements to think about when choosing the form of payment. When submitting an offer, the acquiring firm should consider other potential bidders and think strategically. The form of payment might be decisive for

3198-512: The acquisition so the team can focus on projects for their new employer). In recent years, these types of acquisitions have become common in the technology industry, where major web companies such as Facebook , Twitter , and Yahoo! have frequently used talent acquisitions to add expertise in particular areas to their workforces. Merger of equals is often a combination of companies of a similar size. Since 1990, there have been more than 625 M&A transactions announced as mergers of equals with

3280-514: The assets and liabilities that pertain solely to the unit being sold, determining whether the unit relies on services from other parts of the seller's organization, transferring employees, moving permits and licenses, and safeguarding against potential competition from the seller in the same business sector after the transaction is completed. From an economic point of view, business combinations can also be classified as horizontal, vertical and conglomerate mergers (or acquisitions). A horizontal merger

3362-419: The back cover of the paperbacks a message urging readers not to buy the unauthorized edition. Ace agreed to pay royalties to Tolkien and let its still-popular edition go out of print. Wyn died in 1967, and the company grew financially overextended, failing to pay its authors reliably. Without money to pay the signing bonus, Wollheim was unwilling to send signed contracts to authors. On at least one occasion,

List of Ace double titles - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-446: The business either through debt, equity, or a portion of both. Five common ways to "triangulate" the enterprise value of a business are: Professionals who value businesses generally do not use just one method, but a combination. Valuations implied using these methodologies can prove different to a company's current trading valuation. For public companies, the market based enterprise value and equity value can be calculated by referring to

3526-482: The buyer and target companies seeing positive returns. This suggests that M&A creates economic value, likely by transferring assets to more efficient management teams who can better utilize them. (See Douma & Schreuder, 2013, chapter 13). There are also a variety of structures used in securing control over the assets of a company, which have different tax and regulatory implications: The terms " demerger ", " spin-off " and "spin-out" are sometimes used to indicate

3608-469: The buyer. Hence, the analysis should be done from the acquiring firm's point of view. Synergy-creating investments are started by the choice of the acquirer, and therefore they are not obligatory, making them essentially real options . To include this real options aspect into analysis of acquisition targets is one interesting issue that has been studied lately. See also contingent value rights . Mergers are generally differentiated from acquisitions partly by

3690-424: The company released more science fiction titles each year than in either of the other two genres, and from 1961 onward, science fiction titles outnumbered mysteries and westerns combined. Ace also published a number of lurid juvenile delinquent novels in the 1950s that are now very collectible, such as D-343, The Young Wolves by Edward De Roo and D-378, Out for Kicks by Wilene Shaw. With Ballantine Books , Ace

3772-462: The company's current account), liquidity ratios might decrease. On the other hand, in a pure stock for stock transaction (financed from the issuance of new shares), the company might show lower profitability ratios (e.g. ROA). However, economic dilution must prevail towards accounting dilution when making the choice. The form of payment and financing options are tightly linked. If the buyer pays cash, there are three main financing options: M&A advice

3854-469: The company's share price and components on its balance sheet. The valuation methods described above represent ways to determine value of a company independently from how the market currently, or historically, has determined value based on the price of its outstanding securities. Most often value is expressed in a Letter of Opinion of Value (LOV) when the business is being valued informally. Formal valuation reports generally get more detailed and expensive as

3936-521: The company, and in 1967, he initiated the Ace Science Fiction Specials line, which published critically acclaimed original novels by such authors as R. A. Lafferty , Joanna Russ and Ursula K. Le Guin . Carr and Wollheim also co-edited an annual Year's Best Science Fiction anthology series; and Carr also edited Universe , a well-received original anthology series. Universe was initially published by Ace, although when Carr left in 1971

4018-420: The content analysis of seven interviews, the authors concluded the following components for their grounded model of acquisition: An increase in acquisitions in the global business environment requires enterprises to evaluate the key stake holders of acquisitions very carefully before implementation. It is imperative for the acquirer to understand this relationship and apply it to its advantage. Employee retention

4100-430: The control of the buyer modified. If the issuance of shares is necessary, shareholders of the acquiring company might prevent such capital increase at the general meeting of shareholders. The risk is removed with a cash transaction. Then, the balance sheet of the buyer will be modified and the decision maker should take into account the effects on the reported financial results. For example, in a pure cash deal (financed from

4182-408: The difference in format noted. The list given here includes an indication of the genre of the works, in italics after the serial number. Abbreviations used are "SF" for science fiction titles; "MY" for mystery titles, and "WE" for westerns . In addition, "NA" is used to mean "not applicable", when one or both of the books is not in one of these three genres; and "UN", when the genre of the books

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4264-520: The early D-series novels are D-15, which features William S. Burroughs 's first novel, Junkie (written under the pseudonym "William Lee"), and many novels by Philip K. Dick , Robert Bloch , Harlan Ellison , Harry Whittington , and Louis L'Amour , including those written under his pseudonym "Jim Mayo". The last Ace Double in the first series was John T. Phillifent's Life with Lancelot , backed with William Barton 's Hunting on Kunderer , issued August 1973 (serial #48245). Although Ace resumed using

4346-405: The efficiencies of large volume production. In addition, many of these mergers were capital-intensive. Due to high fixed costs, when demand fell, these newly merged companies had an incentive to maintain output and reduce prices. However more often than not mergers were "quick mergers". These "quick mergers" involved mergers of companies with unrelated technology and different management. As a result,

4428-468: The efficiency gains associated with mergers were not present. The new and bigger company would actually face higher costs than competitors because of these technological and managerial differences. Thus, the mergers were not done to see large efficiency gains, they were in fact done because that was the trend at the time. Companies which had specific fine products, like fine writing paper, earned their profits on high margin rather than volume and took no part in

4510-573: The first series, but the G prefix acquired its own series starting with G-501. Hence the eight earlier G-series titles can be considered part of a different series to the G-series proper. All later series after the first kept independent numbering systems, starting at 1 or 101. The tête-bêche format proved attractive to book collectors, and some rare titles in mint condition command prices over $ 1,000. Mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions ( M&A ) are business transactions in which

4592-473: The global oil refinery industry. It is estimated that more than 1,800 of these firms disappeared into consolidations, many of which acquired substantial shares of the markets in which they operated. The vehicle used were so-called trusts . In 1900 the value of firms acquired in mergers was 20% of GDP . In 1990 the value was only 3% and from 1998 to 2000 it was around 10–11% of GDP. Companies such as DuPont , U.S. Steel , and General Electric that merged during

4674-438: The history of these titles, see the entry for Ace Books , which includes a discussion of the serial numbering conventions used and an explanation of the letter-code system. Ace published science fiction , mysteries , and westerns , as well as books not in any of these genres . Several bibliographic references have been compiled for the science fiction books (see the section for References ). The tête-bêche format inspired

4756-492: The letter-code system. The double format inspired contests for ironic or satirical combinations of titles that might appear, as in " No Blade of Grass "/" The Sheep Look Up ". "It's a fond legend of fandom that if an SF editor got his hands on the Old and New Testaments , they'd be published as War God of Israel and The Thing With Three Souls . The following references have not been reviewed: Ace Books Ace Books

4838-440: The long run by increased market share, broad customer base, and corporate strength of business. A strategic acquirer may also be willing to pay a premium offer to target firm in the outlook of the synergy value created after M&A process. The term "acqui-hire" is used to refer to acquisitions where the acquiring company seeks to obtain the target company's talent, rather than their products (which are often discontinued as part of

4920-440: The merger. Mergers, asset purchases and equity purchases are each taxed differently, and the most beneficial structure for tax purposes is highly situation-dependent. Under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code , a forward triangular merger is taxed as if the target company sold its assets to the shell company and then liquidated, them whereas a reverse triangular merger is taxed as if the target company's shareholders sold their stock in

5002-429: The most value from a business assessment, objectives should be clearly defined and the right resources should be chosen to conduct the assessment in the available timeframe. As synergy plays a large role in the valuation of acquisitions, it is paramount to get the value of synergies right; as briefly alluded to re DCF valuations. Synergies are different from the "sales price" valuation of the firm, as they will accrue to

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5084-417: The offer. Hostile acquisitions can, and often do, ultimately become "friendly" as the acquirer secures endorsement of the transaction from the board of the acquiree company. This usually requires an improvement in the terms of the offer and/or through negotiation. "Acquisition" usually refers to a purchase of a smaller firm by a larger one. Sometimes, however, a smaller firm will acquire management control of

5166-431: The ownership of companies , business organizations , or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. This could happen through direct absorption, a merger, a tender offer or a hostile takeover. As an aspect of strategic management , M&A can allow enterprises to grow or downsize , and change the nature of their business or competitive position. Technically,

5248-424: The price. The D and S did not indicate "Double" (i.e., tête-bêche ) or "Single"; there are D-series titles that are not tête-bêche , although none of the tête-bêche titles have an S serial number. Towards the end of this initial series, the F series began (at a new price), and thereafter there were always several different letter series in publication simultaneously. The D and S prefixes did not appear again after

5330-446: The purchase price. These adjustments are subject to enforceability issues in certain situations. Alternatively, certain transactions use the 'locked box' approach, where the purchase price is fixed at signing and based on the seller's equity value at a pre-signing date and an interest charge. The assets of a business are pledged to two categories of stakeholders: equity owners and owners of the business' outstanding debt. The core value of

5412-446: The rewards for M&A activity were greater for consumer products companies than the average company. For the period 2000–2010, consumer products companies turned in an average annual TSR of 7.4%, while the average for all companies was 4.8%. Given that the cost of replacing an executive can run over 100% of his or her annual salary, any investment of time and energy in re-recruitment will likely pay for itself many times over if it helps

5494-448: The seller. Asset purchases are common in technology transactions in which the buyer is most interested in particular intellectual property but does not want to acquire liabilities or other contractual relationships. An asset purchase structure may also be used when the buyer wishes to buy a particular division or unit of a company that is not a separate legal entity. Divestitures present a variety of unique challenges, such as identifying

5576-442: The seller. With pure cash deals, there is no doubt on the real value of the bid (without considering an eventual earnout). The contingency of the share payment is indeed removed. Thus, a cash offer preempts competitors better than securities. Taxes are a second element to consider and should be evaluated with the counsel of competent tax and accounting advisers. Third, with a share deal the buyer's capital structure might be affected and

5658-508: The series moved elsewhere. In 1965, Ace published an unauthorized American paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien , believing that the copyright had expired in the U.S. Tolkien had not wanted to publish a paperback edition, but changed his mind after the Ace edition appeared, and an authorized paperback edition was subsequently published by Ballantine Books , which included on

5740-414: The size of a company increases, but this is not always the case as the nature of the business and the industry it is operating in can influence the complexity of the valuation task. Objectively evaluating the historical and prospective performance of a business is a challenge faced by many. Generally, parties rely on independent third parties to conduct due diligence studies or business assessments. To yield

5822-526: The stage for a later decline in the publisher's fortunes. Two leading editors, Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr , left in 1971, and in 1972 Ace was sold to Grosset & Dunlap . Despite financial troubles, there were further successes, particularly with the third Ace Science Fiction Specials series, for which Carr came back as editor. Further mergers and acquisitions resulted in the company becoming absorbed by Berkley Books . Ace later became an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) . Editor Donald A. Wollheim

5904-490: The target company to the buyer. The documentation of an M&A transaction often begins with a letter of intent . The letter of intent generally does not bind the parties to commit to a transaction, but may bind the parties to confidentiality and exclusivity obligations so that the transaction can be considered through a due diligence process involving lawyers, accountants, tax advisors, and other professionals, as well as business people from both sides. After due diligence

5986-632: The topic brand architecture . Most histories of M&A begin in the late 19th century United States. However, mergers coincide historically with the existence of companies. In 1708, for example, the East India Company merged with an erstwhile competitor to restore its monopoly over the Indian trade. In 1784, the Italian Monte dei Paschi and Monte Pio banks were united as the Monti Reuniti. In 1821,

6068-547: The transaction and going down into detail about what to do about overlapping and competing product brands. Decisions about what brand equity to write off are not inconsequential. And, given the ability for the right brand choices to drive preference and earn a price premium, the future success of a merger or acquisition depends on making wise brand choices. Brand decision-makers essentially can choose from four different approaches to dealing with naming issues, each with specific pros and cons: The factors influencing brand decisions in

6150-500: The two imprints maintain a separate identity. The following people have worked at Ace Books in various editorial roles. The list is sorted in order of the date they started working at Ace, where known. It includes editors who are notable for some reason, as well as the most recent editors at the imprint. Until the late 1980s, Ace titles had two main types of serial numbers: letter series, such as "D-31" and "H-77", and numeric, such as "10293" and "15697". The letters were used to indicate

6232-417: The two titles bound upside-down with respect to each other, so that there are two front covers and the two texts meet in the middle. This format is generally regarded as an innovation of Ace's; it was not, but Ace published hundreds of titles bound this way over the next twenty-one years. Books by established authors were often bound with those by lesser-known writers. Ace was "notorious for cutting text", in

6314-406: The way in which they are financed and partly by the relative size of the companies. Various methods of financing an M&A deal exist: Payment by cash. Such transactions are usually termed acquisitions rather than mergers because the shareholders of the target company are removed from the picture and the target comes under the (indirect) control of the bidder's shareholders. Payment in the form of

6396-412: The words of bibliographer James Corrick: even some novels labeled "Complete and Unabridged" were cut. Isaac Asimov's The Stars Like Dust was one such: it was reprinted by Ace under the title The Rebellious Stars , and cuts were made without Asimov's approval. Similarly John Brunner repudiated the text of his novel Castaway's World because of unauthorized cuts to the text. Some important titles in

6478-466: Was acquired by Charter Communications in New York City. In 1977 Charter Communications was acquired by Grosset & Dunlap , and in 1982, Grosset & Dunlap was in turn acquired by G. P. Putnam's Sons . Ace was reputedly the only profitable element of the Grosset & Dunlap empire by this time. Ace soon became the science fiction imprint of its parent company. Carr returned to Ace Books in 1984 as

6560-552: Was applying for other jobs, including assistant editor at Pyramid Books . Pyramid mistakenly called Wyn's wife Rose for a reference, thinking Wollheim had worked for her. When Rose told her husband that Wollheim was applying for another job, Wyn made up his mind: he hired Wollheim immediately as an editor. The first book published by Ace was a pair of mysteries bound tête-bêche : Keith Vining's Too Hot for Hell , backed with Samuel W. Taylor 's The Grinning Gismo , priced at 35 cents , with serial number D-01. A tête-bêche book has

6642-437: Was the dominant American science fiction paperback publisher in the 1950s and 1960s. Other publishers followed their lead, catering to the increasing audience for science fiction, but none matched the influence of either company. Ace published, during this period, early work by Philip K. Dick , Gordon R. Dickson , Samuel R. Delany , Ursula K. Le Guin , and Roger Zelazny . In 1964, science fiction author Terry Carr joined

6724-491: Was working at Avon Books in 1952, but disliked his job. While looking for other work, he tried to persuade A. A. Wyn to begin a new paperback publishing company. Wyn was already a well-established publisher of books and pulp magazines under the name A. A. Wyn's Magazine Publishers . His magazines included Ace Mystery and Ace Sports , and it is perhaps from these titles that Ace Books got its name. Wyn liked Wollheim's idea but delayed for several months; meanwhile, Wollheim

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