Booktech.com Sells Assets to Pro Quest
By Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 9/17/2001
In its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Booktech.com reported that it had reached a preliminary agreement to sell all the assets of its coursepack business to Pro Quest for approximately $400,000. The sale includes all master coursepacks, orders and customer lists. Earlier this summer, the cash-strapped Booktech said it had hired Atlas Capital Services to explore its strategic options (News, Aug. 13). According to the filing, Booktech fired all of its employees, with the exception of a few executive officers, last month. Outstanding orders are already being fulfilled by Pro Quest; the deal is expected to be finalized later this month.
For the first six months of 2001, Booktech had a net loss of $8 million, compared to $4.6 million in the first six months of 2000. Sales in the period rose 67%, to $821,299. The company's largest customer has been Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, and other customers include Perseus Books, Tufts University and Houghton Mifflin.
