In yet another blockbuster deal in the library market, ProQuest has acquired Alexander Street, a leading provider of primary source collections to libraries, including streaming video and music products. Going forward, the business will be known as "Alexander Street, a ProQuest Company." Alexander Street president Stephen Rhind-Tutt will stay on board, reporting to ProQuest Information Solutions’ general manager and senior v-p Rafael Sidi. Financial terms were not disclosed.
In a statement, Proquest CEO Kurt Sanford spoke of what Alexander Street’s pioneering multimedia products will add to ProQuest. "This is a fantastic combination that brings together Alexander Street's unique video and primary source content with ProQuest's extensive aggregated content, books and workflow and research tools,” Sandford said, adding that “streaming media is a growing part of the research and learning experience.”
Rhind-Tutt said he was “hugely excited” by the opportunity. "This acquisition is going to enable Alexander Street to fulfill its mission to 'make silent voices heard' more effectively than ever before."
The deal’s announcement will certainly add buzz to show floor at the upcoming ALA Annual Conference, set to open Friday in Orlando. The deal is the latest in a recent flurry of consolidation and acquisitions in the library space, and third major acquisition by ProQuest in just over a year. In October, 2015, ProQuest signed an agreement to acquire Ex Libris Group, and in April, 2015 acquired Coutts Information Services from the Ingram Content Group.
