Intervisual, Investors Buy Books & Beyond

Books & Beyond, the direct-sales and children's book wholesaler that began looking for new ownership last fall after filing for Chapter 11 (News, Sept. 23, 2002), has been sold to two separate companies. The direct sales division has been acquired by Intervisual Books for $82,000, while the wholesaler side, which supplies children's books to literacy organizations, has been acquired by an investment group for just over $1 million. The bankruptcy court approved the transactions last week.

"It's the best-case scenario," said Susan Schilling, the former Dorling Kindersley sales rep who founded Books & Beyond. The Books & Beyond sales network will become a subsidiary of Intervisual, while the investment group has formed a new company, All About Books, to house the literacy operations. Schilling and her husband, Nick, will help with the transition of the units to the new owners, with Nick devoting most of his attention to All About Books. Allan Lang, formerly with Two-Can Publishing, is serving as a consultant to All About Books as publisher liaison.

Before its acquisition by Intervisual, Books & Beyond's home reps sold books from about 55 children's book publishers, including titles from Intervisual. Schilling said that while no final decision has been made, it is likely that Books & Beyond will now concentrate most of its sales efforts on Intervisual's titles. Schilling said a new catalogue should be ready by the spring.