Pearson and Bertelsmann are in talks over a potential merger of Random House and Penguin, giving them a combined 25% market share in the US and UK.
Latest Publishing News from Brazil: Santillana, Bertelsmann Make Big Moves
This week’s issue of PublishNewsBrazil finds three publishers among the global elite, while tracking big investments in Brazil by Santillana and Bertelsmann.
Booquo Launches €9.99 Subscription E-book Club in Spain
Backed by Bertelsmann and Planeta, Spain’s Booquo has begun offering all you can read for €9.99 a month from a curated catalog of 300 mostly backlist titles.
Rethinking Book Club Biz, Bertelsmann Disbands “Direct Group”
After scaling back its book club business over the last three years, Bertelsmann is disbanding its Direct Group as a stand-alone division as of June 30th.
Random House, Others Begin Supplying German Kindle Content
By Siobhan O’Leary As Amazon publicly seeks PR experts to market the Kindle program in Germany, speculation is on the rise that a dedicated German Kindle store is on the horizon. For real this time. To this point, Kindle customers on the search for German-language books have more or less been left out in the cold. Until recently, the German selection …
Bertelsmann Expose Stirs Controversy in Germany
By Siobhan O’Leary A book published last week by Campus Verlag is causing quite a fuss at Bertelsmann headquarters in Gütersloh. Bertelsmannrepublik Deutschland is a critical look at the close personal ties between Bertelsmann AG, the corporation, and the Bertelsmann Stiftung, or foundation. The author, Thomas Schuler, particularly calls into question the foundation’s non-profit status and the substantial tax breaks …
Bertelsmann and Holtzbrinck Team for E-book Distribution in Germany
By Siobhan O’Leary German media giants Bertelsmann and Holtzbrinck are teaming up to create an online direct to consumer e-book distribution platform focused on German-language e-books from their own programs, as well as from third parties. According to The Bookseller, the partners have not yet announced a launch date but have submitted paperwork to the European Commission in Brussels for …
Bertelsmann Exits Portugal
By Siobhan O’Leary Bertelsmann’s Direct Group is exiting the Portuguese market and has sold club business Circulo de Leitores, along with the 54 branches of the book chain Bertrand Livreiros and five publishers, to local publishing group Porto Editora for an undisclosed amount. According to the Boersenblatt, the five publishing houses included in the deal, which is still pending approval …
Bertelsmann’s 09 Net Loss: First in Three Decades
By Siobhan O’Leary For the first time in three decades, Bertelsmann has posted a net loss — this according to the 2009 fiscal year results announced yesterday in Berlin. The loss amounted to €82 million, which is particularly glaring in light of the €142 million net profit posted in 2008. Bertelsmann blamed at least part of the downturn on sluggish …
Best of '09: Analysing the Global Ranking of Publishers
As 2009 comes to a close we wanted to celebrate by bringing you a week’s worth of your favorite articles that we’re run on Publishing Perspectives. We’ll be back on Monday, January 4, with our next new feature. In the meantime, enjoy the best of ‘09 and check our news blog for updates and analysis. Today, industry consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart …