MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
July 6 – July 13, 2006 Edition
NY Investors
Complete Purchase
of Baker & Taylor
NEW YORK, NY/7/6/2006The New-York-based investment firm Castle Harlan, has completed acquisition of Baker & Taylor for an estimated $455 million. Plans to acquire Baker & Taylor were originally announced in May. Richard Willis will continue to head the B&T management team.
According to Hoovers, Baker & Taylor is the number one book supplier to libraries, primarily serving two types of markets. Its primary business distributes books, calendars, music, and DVDs to about 8,000 school, public, and specialty libraries around the world. The firm’s retail unit supplies storefront and Internet retailers, as well as independent booksellers, with some 4 million book titles and more than 135,000 video, DVD, and CD titles. On the Internet (which formerly operated as Informata.com), B&T offers B2B e-commerce fulfillment services.
B&T has consistently grown not only in its core library-based business, but also in direct-to-home distribution via Internet retailers, both areas that are expected to grow in the next few years.
Castle Harlan acquires controlling interests in mid-sized companies in North America and Europe in a wide variety of business ranging from manufacturing to restaurants.
