MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
July 1-15, 2005 Edition
CDS CEO Leaves
After Perseus Acquires
Company, Merges Units
NEW YORK, NY/06/24/05Perseus Books Group, which recently acquired Client Distribution Services (CDS) will merge the two companies sales and back-office forces. At the same time, CDS co-founder and president Gilbert Perlman announced he is leaving the company, though he will remain in a consulting role for several months.
Perseus CEO David Steinberger said the Perseus and CDS sales forces will be combined into a 27-person team. Seven staffers, some from each company, will be leaving. Steve Black, co-founder and COO of CDS, will become director of client services. His job will be to oversee relations between the company and distribution clients. Perseus veteran Matty Goldberg will be vice president of sales and marketing for Perseus Book Group. Chris Wagner, formerly CDS vice president of finance, will become vice president of finance and operations for Perseus and CDS. Jo Ann Neergaard, formerly CDS vice president of human resources, will serve in that capacity for Perseus as a whole.
Back-office operations in Pennsylvania and Tennessee also will be combined, with total staff being reduced by five people. The newly combined company will distribute for about 60 imprints, divisions, and individual distribution clients, including Harvard Business School, Taschen, and Perseuss own lines.
CEO Steinberger said the company is moving away from a two-company structure (Perseus and CDS) toward a shared-service model which balances efficiency with independence, regardless of ownership. The Perseus Books Group is a conglomerate of independently or partly-owned publishing imprints and services which share marketing, sales and distribution as members of the Perseus Books Group. The group includes Basic Books, Da Capo Press, PublicAffairs, Running Press, Basic Civitas, Counterpoint, and Westview Press.
