Random House Acquires Watson-Guptill

By Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 5/13/2008 2:23:00 PM

Random House has acquired the craft, photography and reference publisher Watson-Guptill Publications from Nielsen Business Media (formerly VNU). The sale follows Nielsen's recent moves to get away from its book publishing-focused businesses. In a statement, Greg Farrar, president of Nielsen Business Media, said that Watson-Guptill "would be better positioned for the future as part of a dedicated book publishing firm." The company has over 1,000 backlist titles. Ed Volini, RH deputy chairman, oversaw the purchase for Random.

At Random House, W-G will become a standalone imprint within the Crown Publishing Group, overseen ultimately by president and publisher Jenny Frost. While W-G will be moved to Random's Manhattan offices later in the month, Random House reps could not confirm any details about potential staffing changes (or whether there would be any); currently W-G has 30 employees, led by veteran publisher Amy Rhodes.

W-G is currently distributed by Macmillan and will, according to statement from Random House, continue to be "for the forseeable future." This is Random's second niche acquisition this year. In February, RH acquired Monacelli Press.