PW: Rodale Shedding Non-Core Businesses

The planned divestiture will allow Rodale to focus on what it terms the "healthy active living" segment. In addition, because Rodale's roots are in organic gardening, the publisher will continue to publish in that field, and the company will also continue to operate its new spirituality line, Daybreak Books.

Rodale called the decision to sell its non-core assets a strategic one rather than financial, noting that the properties for sale are profitable operations. Rodale president Bob Teufel said he expects there to be minimal job loss because of the sale, with the majority of the cutbacks achieved through attrition and early retirement. Other employees will be shifted into unfilled positions within Rodale. Indeed, book group president Pat Corpora told PW that as the company grows, one of its scarcest resources is people.Corpora estimated that the book units to be sold represent about $40 million of the book group's annual sales of approximately $275 million.