American Booksellers Association ceo since 2009 Oren Teicher announced Monday that he will retire at the end of the year. The ABA board has retained the search firm of Isaacson, Miller and has appointed a search committee, intending to complete the search process by September 30. Teicher said, “To say the least, this was not a…
M&A
Corporate: New Amazon Imprint, Hachette Buys Board Game Company, and More
Amazon Publishing is adding an Amazon Crossing Kids imprint, publishing children’s picture books in translation, with three announced titles, for publication beginning in July. Two Lions editorial director Kelsey Skea is editorial director of Amazon Crossing Kids as well, working in collaboration with Two Lions editor Marilyn Brigham and Amazon Crossing editorial director Gabriella Page-For….
Children’s Publishing: Executives Buy Bonnier’s US Children’s Lines; Sourcebooks Adds Three Imprints
Continuing last year’s developments that saw changes in leadership at Bonnier Books’ English-language divisions and a slimming of their lines (including the sale of Weldon Owen to Insight Editions), the company has sold the children’s publishing lines that comprised Bonnier Books USA. CEO Shimul Tolia and cfo Thomas Morgan have bought the division from Bonnier Books….
Ingram Entertainment Buys Baker & Taylor Entertainment
Ingram purchased “certain assets” from Baker & Taylor in a deal that closed January 11 — but the buyer was Ingram Entertainment, the video and home entertainment distributor, not Ingram Content Group, and they acquired B&T’s entertainment products distribution division (including “retail customer agreements for the purchase of video and audio music products”). Reportedly, the Federal…
German Booksellers Thalia and Mayersche Announce Intended Merger
In a surprise move, two German bookstores — Thalia, the market leader, and Mayersche, a large regional chain — announced plans to merge, a deal that will first need to be approved by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office. While terms of the deal remain undisclosed, the Falter family, which owns Mayersche, will become partners in the…
Vivendi Gets Greenlight to Acquire Editis
The French government’s competition authority has approved Vivendi’s acquisition of Editis, the second-largest book publisher in France after Hachette Livre, finding that the transaction “was not likely to undermine competition in the markets for cultural property.” The Authority “took into account the respective market shares of the parties, the organization of the relevant markets, the competitive…