News Corp buys Houghton Mifflin's consumer arm for $349 million

• News Corp will acquire the consumer unit of educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $349 million in cash.
• The unit, HMH Books and Media, will be operated by News Corp's publishing division HarperCollins Publishers.
• This will give News Corp access to over 7,000 titles including novels from writers like George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Penn Warren.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co. headquarters stand in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012. Boston, a leading city for finance, has an economic base that includes research, manufacturing, and biotechnology.

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News Corp will acquire the consumer unit of educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $349 million in cash, the Rupert Murdoch-led media company said on Monday, marking its second buyout in nearly a week.

The unit, HMH Books and Media, will be operated by News Corp's publishing division HarperCollins Publishers, and will give it access to over 7,000 titles including novels from writers like George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Penn Warren.

The sale comes at a time when News Corp, which also owns Dow Jones Newswires, is making acquisitions to bolster its portfolio and expand while bearing the brunt of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal on Sunday.

News Corp said on March 25 that it had agreed to buy financial news firm Investor's Business Daily for $275 million.