HTTP/1.1 302 Found Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:07:44 GMT Server: Apache Set-Cookie: NYT-S=deleted; expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:01 GMT; path=/; domain=www.stg.nytimes.com Set-Cookie: NYT-S=0M9jB85ro2SaLDXrmvxADeHLsz/o8FbPlGdeFz9JchiAIUFL2BEX5FWcV.Ynx4rkFI; expires=Thu, 24-Jul-2014 19:07:44 GMT; path=/; domain=.nytimes.com Location: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/business/media/hachette-said-to-be-near-deal-for-perseus-books.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 Content-Length: 0 nnCoection: close Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: Apache Cache-Control: no-cache Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Length: 54105 Accept-Ranges: bytes Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:07:44 GMT X-Varnish: 462170722 462170126 Age: 7 Via: 1.1 varnish Connection: keep-alive X-Cache: HIT X-API-Version: 5-5 X-PageType: article
http://nyti.ms/1rv1Ntn
Michael Pietsch, Hachette’s chief executive, said the acquisition of Perseus “fits our strategic goals of growth and nonfiction expansion."Credit Keith Hayes ..
Hachette Book Group is bulking up for a long-term battle with Amazon, the giant online retailer.
The company is close to completing a deal in which it would acquire the Perseus Books Group, the country’s sixth-largest trade publisher, people briefed on the negotiations said Tuesday.
The deal could provide Hachette more leverage in a monthslong dispute with Amazon over e-book pricing, and improve its negotiating position over the long run. As Amazon has grown to dominate the online book market, it has increasingly demanded that publishers cut their prices and pay higher fees.
Hachette has refused to meet Amazon’s demands in the current round of negotiations. Amazon has responded with tactics that include refusing some presale orders on Hachette books, delaying the delivery of books and suggesting that readers try other authors instead. The moves have enraged Hachette authors, including the late-night host Stephen Colbert, who ranted against Amazon recently on his show. But Amazon has stood firm.
Amazon’s power in the book industry — it controls roughly one-third of the country’s book business, and possibly more — has prompted publishers to move toward consolidation as they look to fortify their own negotiating positions by adding heft and larger inventory. Last year, Random House and Penguin merged into a giant publishing house, making it harder for Amazon not to carry their books.
A merger of Hachette, which is the fourth largest publisher in the United States market, with Perseus would result in a smaller company than Penguin Random House. But Perseus, with 12 imprints — including Basic Books, Avalon Travel and Public Affairs — would offer a quick way for Hachette to strengthen its nonfiction offerings. (Hachette has been stronger in popular fiction — for example, it recently released “The Silkworm†by J.K. Rowling.)
Perseus also owns a strong backlist of 6,000 titles, which includes perennial sellers such as “Friday Night Lights,†by Buzz Bissinger and “Skinny Bitch†by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.
Perseus, founded in 1996, is a private company. Under terms of the proposed deal, Hachette would keep the Perseus publishing business, said one person briefed on the negotiations. But it has signed a binding agreement to sell its client services division, which provides back-end services like marketing and distribution, to Ingram Content Group, a distributor.
More on nytimes.com
Site Index
more
{ 0 comments... » Hachette Said to Be Near Deal for Perseus Books read them below or add one }
Post a Comment