Penguin Random House has acquired UK children’s publisher and packager Little Tiger Group, with the deal to close on April 1. CEO and cofounder of Little Tiger Group Monty Bhatia will report to Barbara Marcus, president and publisher of Random House Children’s, who “initiated and led the acquisition.” Little Tiger will be run as a standalone company, “aligned closely” with RH Children’s and will maintain its five imprints, led by publishers Jude Evans and Thomas Truong. Little Tiger will also “continue its business of selling its books directly to a variety of publishers and select retailers and distributors.” PRH has […]
M&A
People, Etc.: Teicher to Retire From ABA
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 decision I reached lightly, as I have cherished every single day over the last 30 years that I have worked at ABA. But the time has come, and I firmly believe it’s the right decision for me, and for ABA. There are also a number […]
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. Separately, Random House Children’s announced the launch list of three titles, starting in September, for Christopher Myers‘ Make Me A World imprint, which started in 2016, originally aiming for a 2018 debut. He says in the release: “Imagine inviting all the smartest people, the artists and […]
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. Tolia and Morgan founded Little Bee in 2014, as the first part of Bonnier Books US. The company will continue to publish under the established three imprints: Little Bee Books, BuzzPop, and Yellow Jacket. They will remain in their current offices, and continued to be distributed by […]
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 Trade Commission had been conducting a “preliminary nonpublic investigation” into booksellers’ use of major wholesalers in what some suggested was anticipation of potential acquisition by Ingram Content Group of Baker & Taylor’s book wholesaling business. But Baker & Taylor president David Cully underscores in the press […]
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 consortium that owns Thalia, which includes the Herder and Kreke families, Leif Göritz, and Thalia ceo Michael Busch. Mayersche’s ceo, Helmut Falter, will join the consortium as a managing partner and member of the board, tasked with the integration of the two companies and future corporate […]