The Lerner Publishing Group has acquired roughly 100 Egmont USA titles. The deal comes nearly one month after Egmont USA parent company Egmont Publishing decided to close its American unit after it failed to find a buyer for the division.
According to Egmont Publishing, after it announced its plans to close the unit Lerner approached the company about buying Egmont USA’s remaining assets. Under the deal Lerner will fold the Egmont titles into different imprints including Carolrhoda Books, Carolrhoda Lab, Darby Creek, and Millbrook Press.
Egmont USA will oversee the publication of the eight remaining titles on its 2015 winter list which will be distributed by Random House until April 30. Lerner will then take over publication and distribution of all Egmont frontlist and backlist titles. Andrea Cascardi, publisher and managing director of Egmont USA, and Margaret Coffee, sales and marketing director of Egmont USA, will remain until April 30 to oversee the transition to Lerner. Alix Reid, a former v-p and editorial director at HarperCollins Children’s Books, will act as editor-at-large on an interim basis while Lerner searches for an editorial director of Carolrhoda Books to work in its Minneapolis office.
“The Egmont USA acquisition demonstrates our continued commitment to our highly acclaimed trade program,” said Adam Lerner, CEO and publisher of Lerner Publishing Group. “Egmont’s dedication to quality shows in their list of award-winning and bestselling books and we look forward to reaching out to Egmont authors and welcoming them to the Lerner Publishing Group family.”
