Skyhorse Publishing has emerged as the winner in lively auction for the assets of Arcade Publishing. Skyhorse had established itself as the stalking horse in the auction process earlier this summer with a bid of $318,000 and acquired the assets with a bid of $548,000. The purchase includes approximately 500 titles and gives the four-year-old Skyhorse a much deeper backlist. Arcade authors include Ingmar Bergman, Octavio Paz, Umberto Eco, Samuel Beckett, Ismail Kadare, and Elie Wiesel.

A Skyhorse spokesperson said the publisher is considering using the Arcade name for its more literary titles, but had not reached a final decision. The company will announce in the next few weeks when Arcade titles will be available to the trade. “We are thrilled to be adding Arcade’s titles to Skyhorse’s growing list,” said Skyhorse founder Tony Lyons. “We believe that the timeless quality of many of the books on the list fits nicely into the Skyhorse model of finding great books; producing well-priced, handsome packages; finding the customers who will read and love them; and keeping them in print year after year.”

Arcade was founded by Richard Seaver in 1988 and filed for bankruptcy in early 2009 shortly after Seaver’s death