Houghton-Mifflin accepts $1.8B buyout (AP)

BOSTON - Houghton-Mifflin Co., one of the nation's largest textbook publishers and home to early American authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, has agreed to a nearly $1.8 billion buyout offer from a group led by educational publishing executive Barry O'Callaghan. Under the deal announced Wednesday, the buyers are paying $1.75 billion in cash for Houghton. In addition, some Houghton managers and employees are rolling over $40 million in stock into shares of the new company, which is being called ...