Alun Davies will join Simon & Schuster in early February as a consultant to the company on international issues. Davies has served as a consultant to Random House and Bertelsmann since retiring as president and publisher of Bantam Doubleday Dells's international operations in June 1998 (News, Feb. 2, 1998).
At S&S, Davies will report directly to company president Jack Romanos, with whom he worked in the past when Romanos was at Bantam. In a staff memo, Romanos said, "Davies's role will be to offer support and advice that will enable our international companies to achieve their maximum potential." S&S has foreign operations in Canada, the U.K. and Australia and has set a goal of doubling its international revenues within five years.
Davies said his agreement with S&S is nonexclusive and that he is free to take other assignments. Davies also plans to resign from the Transworld board soon. "I've worked with a lot of people who are now at Simon & Schuster, and I look forward to rejoining old friends," Davies commented.
HC to Distribute S&S UK
In other news affecting S&S's international operations, the company reported last week that beginning April 3, HarperCollins will take over distribution of S&S UK's titles from Pearson Education. Ian Chapman, managing director of S&S UK, said the agreement with HC "is a crucial new piece in the jigsaw as we build Simon & Schuster UK into a major force in British publishing."
