Look out McGraw-Hill. Activist hedge fund Jana Partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board have bought 5.2% of the publishing, investment analysis and TV station company — and say that they may try to break it up. The investors reported in SEC filings today that they have “no present plan or proposal” for the company run by CEO Terry McGraw. But they plan to talk to McGraw-Hill’s directors, shareholders, and others about changes “to improve shareholder value.” That could include changes in McGraw-Hill’s “business, operations, management, board composition and representation, corporate structure, strategy and future plans,” they say. The news contributed to a 5.5% increase in McGraw-Hill’s share price in after-hours trading. The company is already trying to reorient itself. Last year it sold BusinessWeek magazine to Bloomberg, and it recently put its TV station group on the block. The company’s best-known properties include Standard & Poor’s and J.D. Powers Associates.


I hope so…
Their spin on a number of historical events is right out of Karl Rove’s playbook.
McGraw-Hill problems started when they forgot they were a publishing company and instead focused time and dependency on the profits of S&P, who as we all know, is one of the rating agencies that somehow missed the risk of mortgage-back securities as well as many other things. Another recent example of poor management decisions was their closing of their profitable LA/Woodland Hills Educational Publishing office to consolidate operations in another office. The guy who thought that one up, of course, is no longer with the company. All very unfortunate, as McGraw-Hill has a great legacy and some of the most talented and brightest workforce around.