Random Buys Sports Publisher Random House has purchased Chicago-based sports book publisher Triumph Books, on undisclosed terms. Founder and CEO Mitch Rogatz will continue to run the unit and the full staff will remain in place in Chicago, as Triumph becomes an imprint within the RH Publishing Group. Rogatz will report to svp and executive director for business operations and new business development Bill Takes. Group head Gina Centrello notes in the announcement: “We have long wanted to extend our publishing program more deeply into the area of sports, and Triumph’s expertise and reputation in this area makes them the […]

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Book Fair War Is On In London The Frankfurt Book Fair has seized upon the vulnerability of the London Book Fair following their botched relocation to outer London by booking the Earl’s Court exhibition hall in central London for a new convention scheduled for Monday April 16 through Wednesday April 18, 2007. Among initial supporters, the UK’s biggest trade group Hachette Livre has agreed to exhibit at the new show and will bypass the London Book Fair. CEO Tim Hely Hutchinson says: “We are delighted that a central London venue has been found for London to continue hosting an attractive […]

CEO Leaves AMS Bruce Myers is leaving his post as president and CEO at Advanced Marketing Services “immediately,” and is resigning his board post as well. An accounting advisor to the company in the wake of its accounting scandal in 2004, Myers joined AMS that April as chief operating and officer and moved up to CEO later that year. The company says in an announcement they expect to announce a replacement “shortly… who is well-known and highly regarded in the company’s industry. In the meantime, evp and co-founder Loren C. Paulsen is serving as interim president and CEO. Trade Soft […]

Another Tough Quarter at Harlequin Figuring out Harlequin-parent Torstar’s first quarter results requires more complicated parsing of currency hedging, exchange rates, and accounting regulation changes than usual — which generally indicates the company is straining for ways to explain that business wasn’t as bad as it looks. Actual profit from book publishing was down $9.5 million (CA) from last year — though last year they made money from smart dollar hedging rather than smart publishing. “Underlying” book profits were flat. Actual book sales declined to $118 million, from $127 million a year ago. Nonetheless, CEO Robert Prichard declares, “At Harlequin, […]

Tim, Out Don’t you hate it when you try to force a company to give up on a planned acquisition they worked hard on for eight months and sell one of their units to you instead, and they try to impose strict conditions on you? And then your primary backer “coincidentally” happens to pull their promised financing? That’s the world of Tim Waterstone, who continues his long losing streak of failed efforts to buy back the bookstore chain he founded. (Which is probably just as well — doesn’t Tim know that when you use private equity money for a purchase, […]