Chicago Review Press, Inc., parent company of Independent Publishers Group, has acquired Art Stock Books, a distributor of fine art and architecture books based in Stuttgart, Germany. According to IPG president Mark Suchomel, ASB distributes titles from 30, mostly European publishers, encompassing between 600 to 700 titles. All books are in English or dual languages. “We wouldn’t bring in any titles that wouldn’t work for this market,” Suchomel said.
IPG will take official ownership of the company on June 16, and all marketing and operations will be integrated into IPG’s headquarters in Chicago. IPG will operate ASB much like is has Trafalgar Square, the distributor of U.K. titles which it added to IPG in 2006. ASB will keep a separate catalogue and existing Web site. All titles from all IPG lists will be combined for discount, invoicing, and shipping and can be ordered through IPG and its sales reps. Suchomel said he expects to use ASB to add selected art book publishers from North America, Australia and Europe. Current clients include Hirmer Verlag, L'Aventurine, Seemann Henschel, Wienand Verlag, Rakennustieto, Slovart, Reimer Verlag and Janssen Publishers.
