Perseus Book Group Sold

Perseus Book Group has agreed to sell its publishing business to Hachette Book Group  and its distribution business to Ingram Content Group, both for undisclosed sums. Hachette made a previous bid to acquire Perseus in 2014, but the deal fell through.

Perseus has 6,000 backlist titles and publishes about 500 books a year through various imprints, including Avalon Books and Running Press, with revenues of about $100 million. Their client services division distributes books for about 600 independent publishers and earns $300 million annually.

Hachette plans to make Perseus a new division run by current Perseus senior vice president and group publisher Susan Weinberg, who will report to Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch.

According to Perseus president and CEO David Steinberger, the sale of both arms of Perseus should scheduled to close at by March 31, 2016. Steinberger says he will leave the company after the sale is complete.