Lerner Wins Millbrook

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 7/26/2004

The Lerner Publishing Group prevailed in a bankruptcy auction to acquire the Millbrook and Twenty-First Century imprints from the bankrupt parent company. According to bankruptcy court papers, Lerner had reached a preliminary agreement to acquire the imprints for $1.5 million, but the auction boosted the purchase price to just over $3.4 million.

Lerner's publisher, Adam Lerner, said the Millbrook deal was the most significant purchase in the 45-year history of the children's house. The acquisition will add 900 backlist titles, boosting the company's total backlist to more than 2,400 titles, and will help the company expand both in the school and trade market, Lerner said. Lerner will continue to use both the Millbrook and Twenty-First Century names, and Adam Lerner promised that his company will revitalize the two imprints. Lerner will keep an editorial office in Connecticut and will work to "repair relationships with authors," Adam Lerner said. Plans for 2005 call for publishing 100 new books under the Millbrook and Twenty-First Century banners, giving Lerner 400 new books next year.

The company has already taken over marketing and fulfillment of Millbrook's titles from Simon & Schuster and is in the process of transferring Millbrook's 1.5-million-book inventory into its own facility in Minneapolis. Adam Lerner said he hopes to begin shipping titles from Minneapolis by September 1.

The $3.4 million raised by the sale to Lerner, combined with the $4.7 million sale of Roaring Brook to Henry Holt, generated $8.1 million, which will be used to pay Millbrook's creditors.