MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
September 27 – October 4, 2007 Edition
Perseus to Acquire
PGW Name, Logo
From AMS Bankruptcy
NEW YORK, NY/9/27/07–Perseus Books Group was expected to receive court approval yesterday to use the marks and name of Publishers Group West (PGW) as its own and to assume its office leases in Berkley, California and New York City. Perseus’s court motion asks for the permanent rights to “all intellectual property associated with the PGW and Publishers Group West marks and names, office equipment, furniture and data.
Perseus acquired PGW’s assets earlier this year as part of the bankruptcy proceedings for America Marketing Association (AMS). PGW was the distribution arm of AMS.
Perseus, which is acquiring the name and leases for $80,000, will use the East and West Coast offices for book distribution and various office operations. Court documents note that Perseus Distribution Inc. and Consortium have a wholesale inventory of $330 million worth of books and are shipping to about 10,000 wholesale and retail customers.
A ruling on the motion was due September 26, after the Authorlink news deadline.
When parent company American Marketing Services (AMS) filed for bankruptcy in December 2006, PGW book distribution channels were essentially shut down, causing an almost total loss of fourth quarter sales revenues for the indys and an uncertain future for them all. Then, in what was to be one of the biggest deals in the history of independent publishing, Perseus Books Group won court approval to take over PGW distribution operations. Under Perseus, PGW serves the distribution needs of more than 125 publishers, both small and large.
The company comprises a number of distinctive publishing imprints, including: Avalon Travel, Basic Books, Basic Civitas, Da Capo, Nation Books, PublicAffairs, Running Press, Seal Press, Vanguard Press, and Westview Press. Perseus bills itself as a “small house” with “big house” capabilities in sales, publicity, and distribution. It also values its editorial independence and freedom from large corporate media interests.
