We told you this morning Riverdeep was nearly ready to acquire Houghton Mifflin, and now the deal's been done—the Associated Press reports that Houghton has accepted $1.75 billion in cash. So what happened to the $3.5 billion number Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin mentioned? Well, the investors are also absorbing another $1.6 billion of debt.

Technically, though, Riverdeep isn't actually acquiring Houghton. Instead, Barry O'Callaghan, who already has a controlling stake in Riverdeep, has formed an investment group called HM Rivergroup that, in addition to buying Houghton for that $1.75 billion, will also spend $1.2 billion to acquire Riverdeep.