Publisher consolidation continues with Wiley, Cengage and McGraw-Hill deals

Marking another major strategic move in recent weeks among academic publishers, John Wiley & Sons announced Monday that it will acquire the assets of Knewton, a firm specializing in adaptive learning technology and open educational resources (OER).Wiley's purchase of Knewton for an undisclosed sum follows news last week of the merger between publishing powerhouses McGraw-Hill Education and Cengage, which Inside Higher Ed reported was a way to strengthen their positions and reduce competition in a shifting market.Knewton's Alta OER courseware is used by more than 300 colleges, according to a press release. Wiley hopes access to that software will improve its position in the market for affordable course materials. While Wiley's move to increase its presence in the OER sector is important, the bigger jolt in the academic publishing field was the merger of McGraw-Hill and Cengage. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the deal by the two companies — whose combined revenues top $3.1 billion and who together offer some 44,000 titles — might get the attention of antitrust regulators as it would significantly reduce competition in the textbook market by combining the No. 2 and No. 3 players.