In a shareholders' meeting today in Europe, Royal Swets & Zeitlinger received an infusion of about $55 million from private capital companies in order to head off a financial crisis. The crisis was precipitated by news of accounting errors and layoffs this summer, a loss of almost $9 million in 2003, and a demand by creditors for an immediate cash injection. Swets' troubles bring back bad memories for major libraries and for publishers, many of whom were stiffed when the divine/RoweCom/Faxon subscription service collapsed in late 2002. This cash infusion seems to bridge the crisis for now, but the lessons of the divine crash still stand: buyers spending large sums on single providers need to pay attention to the financial health of those suppliers and remain aware of alternatives in the event of a crisis.
