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Roberts Rinehart Assets Sold To Court Wayne Press
Calvin Reid -- 6/5/00

Following a $1 million settlement of a libel suit and the partial settlement of a secured debt, most of the publishing assets of Boulder, Colo.-based Roberts Rinehart Publishers have been purchased by Court Wayne Press, also of Boulder. The Roberts Rinehart trademark and the Irish interest titles on its backlist, about a third of its books, have been sold to an as yet unnamed American firm that plans to launch an Irish imprint in the near future.

Rick Rinehart, president and founder of Roberts Rinehart Publishers, told PW that there were other factors in the demise of the publisher besides the settlement of the $100 million libel suit filed against it and Sean McPhilemy, the author of The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland (News, May 22). "The suit was significant," said Rinehart, who launched the press in 1983, "but there were other factors: fatigue, and investors ran away from the company."

Rinehart said that Tri Ventures Group, a U.K. venture capital firm, acquired the assets of RR and sold them to Graham Snell, a U.K.-based investor who is moving to the U.S. to launch Court Wayne Press with the non-Irish-interest titles from the RR backlist. Court Wayne subsequently sold the trademark and Irish-interest titles to an American publishing firm. Rinehart emphasized to PW that he has "no ownership or equity in Court Wayne," but will act as a consultant to its new publishing program. RR originally specialized in children's books, museum catalogues, art books and cooperative publishing with the National Park Service and other nonprofits, said Rinehart, and Court Wayne will now focus on the same categories.

Rinehart said he will continue to consult. He is also working on a book about the Rinehart family, which has a long and significant role in the history of American book publishing. Former Roberts Rinehart titles will continue to be sold to the trade by PGW until July 31, whereupon Court Wayne will manage trade sales directly from its warehouse and offices in Boulder.

For more information on former RR and forthcoming Court Wayne Press titles, call (877) 929-6387.
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