sale, many parties expressed interest
before Perseus began having serious
conversations with about seven com-
panies. Unlike the first attempted sale,
this time Perseus hired a financial
advisor, Greenhill & Co., to help oversee
the process. And unlike the earlier
negotiation, when HBG planned to buy
all of Perseus and then sell the distribu-
tion business to Ingram, the new process
involved two separate sales. HBG’s
acquisition was announced on March 1,
and Ingram’s March 3.
HBG and Ingram had been considered the most likely to get involved
with the Perseus purchase this time
for the same reason they tried to
make a deal in 2014: the acquisition
gives the companies more clout in
their respective markets. HBG was
looking to increase its presence in
the nonfiction market when it first
bid on Perseus, and it continued to
look for ways to expand there following
its failure to complete the 2014 deal.
Shortly after the Perseus deal collapsed,
HBG bought about 1,000 adult nonfiction titles from Hyperion and picked
up another 250 nonfiction books in the
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ; MARCH 7, 2016
Hachette, Ingram Split
Perseus’s Businesses
The Art of the Deal
Eighteen months after the col- lapse of a complicated deal that would have delivered Perseus
Books Group’s publishing business to
Hachette Book Group and its distribution arm to Ingram Content Group,
Perseus signed binding agreements
last week to sell those same two businesses to those new owners.
David Steinberger, CEO of
Perseus, said there were several factors that contributed to completing
the deal this time around. For starters,
he said, Perseus has had a solid financial
performance since the original deal was
called off in August 2014, which has
continued to make the company an
attractive acquisition target. Indeed,
after Perseus announced last fall that it
was once again considering a possible
SOURCE: NIELSEN BOOKSCAN AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. NIELSEN BOOKSCAN’S U.S. CONSUMER MARKE T PANEL COVERS APPROXIMATELY 80% OF THE PRINT BOOK MARKET AND CONTINUES TO GROW.
Unit sales of print books rose 5% in the week ended Feb. 28, 2016, over the similar week
last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The adult nonfiction segment had
the largest gain, with units up 15%. The growth in the category was led by two titles that
made their debut in the top spots. Doctor Who Coloring Book landed at #1 in the segment, selling more than 39,000 copies in its first week, while Cravings by Chrissy Teigen
was in second place, selling just under 32,000 copies. Another new title hit the adult
nonfiction list in fourth place in its first week: Mark Hyman’s Eat Fat Get Thin, which sold
more than 19,000 copies. Unit sales in juvenile nonfiction increased 10% in the week,
helped by some Easter books moving up the bestsellers list. The Story of Easter by
Patricia A. Pingry was #4 in juvenile nonfiction, selling almost 5,500 copies, and Pingry’s
The Easter Story moved into the 11th spot, selling nearly 4,000 copies. Adult fiction unit
sales fell 3% in the week, despite the release of a number of new mass market paperbacks
that hit the top of the bestsellers list. The mass market edition of Country by Danielle
Steel was #1 on the adult fiction list, selling almost 23,000 copies in its first week, followed
by mass market paperback editions of Memory Man by David Baldacci, which sold
approximately 21,000 copies, and Revenge by Lisa Jackson, which sold about 17,000
copies. Unit sales in the juvenile fiction category slipped 0.2% in the week. Dr. Seuss
titles held the first five spots on the juvenile fiction bestsellers list, selling a total of more
than 96,000 copies.
MAR. 11, FEB. 28, CHGE CHGE
2015 2016* WEEK YTD
Adult Non;ction
4,138 4,748 15% 12%
Adult Fiction
2,502 2,424 - 3 -0.6
Juvenile Non;ction 899 989 10 13
Juvenile Fiction
3,126 3,121 -0.2 3
Unit Sales of Print Books by Format
MAR. 1, FEB. 28, CHGE CHGE
2015 2016* WEEK YTD
Hardcover
2,998 3,046 2% 6%
Trade Paperback
5,821 6,396 10 8
Mass Market Paperback
1,287 1,184 -8 - 6
Board Books 634 720 14 17
Audio
69
60 - 13 - 12
Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel
MAR. 1, FEB. 28, CHGE CHGE
2015 2016* WEEK YTD
Total
11,027 11,631 5% 6%
Mass Merch./Other
2,337 2,061 - 12 - 9
Retail & Club 8,690 9,570 10 10
*TO TALS FOR 2016 INCLUDE UNITS SOLD THROUGH FAMILY CHRISTIAN STORES. NO SALES THROUGH
FAMILY CHRISTIAN ARE INCLUDED IN 2015.