Perseus Completes PGW Deal

by Jim Milliot, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 3/1/2007

The Perseus Books Group completed its acquisition of the distribution contracts of 124 former PGW clients yesterday and began writing checks to those publishers, Perseus CEO David Steinberger said. Publishers will receive payment either by wire transfer or mail, whichever they prefer, he said.

With the closing, Perseus began shipping books from the AMS/PGW Indianapolis warehouse yesterday, shipping 70,000 units to accounts to fill orders under the transition services agreement that will last through July 31. Services for the PGW clients are being handled by the PGW staff headed by Rich Freese. Although Perseus will have a PGW booth at BEA and a PGW catalogue, the company does not now own the PGW name, which is still being used by AMS, Steinberger explained. Accounts ordering from PGW are using a temporary vendor-of-record ID called transition vendor.

Steinberger said Perseus has now started to explore how the PGW and Perseus distribution operations will be combined. He said he hopes to have a good idea of what the consolidated business will look like in two months. Perseus will soon beginning moving the PGW inventory from the Indianapolis warehouse to Perseus’s Jackson, Tenn., facility soon. About 20 million units need to be shipped, and Steinberger said Perseus will expand the Jackson warehouse to accommodate the new books.

Perseus also closed on its acquisition of Avalon yesterday. Charlie Winton will remain Avalon CEO for the next several months, and then will serve as a consultant for Perseus. Winton will also oversee the Shoemaker & Hoard imprint that he recently acquired. S&H will be distributed by Perseus/PGW.