eBook distribution company INscribe Digital has been sold by parent company Isolation Network to book publishing distributor Independent Publishers Group (IPG), with staff and clients having been informed of the news, as we reported Wednesday afternoon ahead of the official announcement. In the release, IPG ceo Joe Matthews says, “We are delighted to welcome INscribe Digital to the IPG family of businesses. IPG is focused on providing state-of-the- art services for its entire client base, including unparalleled eBook distribution expertise. The INscribe digital platforms and staff will help position us as a technology leader in the distribution marketplace.” The sale builds on a relationship […]
Finance
UK Briefs: Hachette UK to Close Littlehampton Warehouse in 2019; Lost My Name Lays Off 10; and More
Hachette UK will close its Littlehampton Book Services warehouse and offices in 2019 as part of a bigger plan to consolidate and modernize their distribution operations. They will build a new distribution center in Didcot, Oxfordshire, about a mile away from the existing Bookpoint distribution facility, starting in late 2016. “It is intended that Hachette Distribution and its client publishers will begin a carefully phased transition to the new site in 2018,” the company said, and the current Bookpoint warehouse will be maintained for “bulk storage.” Hachette UK coo Chris Emerson said in the announcement: “The retail landscape has changed; people buy […]
German Bookseller Thalia Sold to Herder Family; WME-IMG to Buy UFC
Boston-based private equity company Advent International has finally executed a deal to sell Germany’s leading bookselling chain Thalia. The lead buyer is Germany’s Herder family, which has been in the publishing business for over 200 years. The Kreke family continues to hold a minority share. (They founded Thalia’s parent company Douglas Holding, and held a 20 percent share in Douglas alongside Advent; Douglas itself, a beauty retailer, was spun back out to CVC Capital Partners last year, so it was only a matter of time before Thalia was sold as well. In turn, the Herder’s had sold their bookstore group to […]
Bookselling: BN Fires “Under 50” IT People, Portland’s New Indie, and More
Even as Barnes & Noble continues to promise fixes to their botched website relaunch, the company is laying off what spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating called “less than 50 people” at their Westbury, Long Island IT office. Keating wrote to Newsday, “We have a very large IT department in Westbury that supports our stores and financial teams. We had some workforce reductions in specific areas of our IT Group in Westbury to streamline operations.” That facility apparently receives discounted electricity “under the state Power Authority’s ReCharge NY program, which is intended to retain jobs in the state.” Separately, Longtime booksellers Emily Russo and Josh Christie […]
Brexit, “Day One”
As you surely know already, the UK’s surprise vote in favor of exiting the European Union has left people all over the world trying to figure out the ramifications of a process that could take 2 years or more to actually execute. The most immediate impact is in financial markets, which abhor uncertainty and look to put a price on the outcome of that process before it has even begun. And the trading effect is twofold — altering equity values worldwide, primarily downward, while also driving currency exchange fluctuations, there primarily lowering the value of the British pound against other […]
Briefs: Empresa’s New Books Division; Amazon Updates Kindle; and More
Czech media conglomerate Empresa has launched a books division, Publishing Perspectives reports. The company released its first three titles this month and expects to publish 15 titles by the end of 2016. Empresa already owns an online bookstore which sells more than 170,000 titles by over 4,000 publishers. Amazon released its newest version of the 6″ Kindle, retailing for $99.99 (or $79.99 with ads) and weighing 5.7 ounces. The new Kindle features 4 GB of memory, built-in Bluetooth for audio support, and up to four weeks of battery life on a single charge. Separately, Amazon announced its latest fulfillment center […]