Fromm International will close its U.S. office May 31 when company founder and publisher Leo Fromm retires. The German-based Fromm International established an office in New York City in 1980 and Fred Jordan has served as its executive director for the last five years.

The company shipped its last titles this month, and Jordan told PW that over the next several months Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Fromm's distributor, will remainder as many backlist titles as possible. Titles will eventually be declared out-of-stock, with rights reverting to the authors. The company has 164 nonfiction titles, and Jordan said that while he came close to finding a buyer for the list, a deal was never completed. Jordan will help phase out the company's operation through the remainder of the year from his office in Croton, N.Y., where Fred Jordan Books is located.