Astra Publishing House has acquired DAW Books. Astra was established in early 2020 by Thinkingdom Media Group, a Beijing-based publishing conglomerate, and has quickly expanded, adding numerous imprints and acquiring companies. The most recent of these was the acquisition of TOON Books in February this year.
DAW Books was founded in 1971. With the acquisition, Astra gets a well-established backlist of 2,000 science fiction and fantasy titles from authors including Tad Williams, Kristen Britain, C. J. Cherryh, C. S. Friedman, Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee, Melanie Rawn, and Patrick Rothfuss.
“We’re so thrilled to have DAW Books and its talented team joining Astra Publishing House,” Leying Jiang, president and CFO of Astra Publishing House, said in a statement. “It feels like we are adding another bright star to our growing program. And so this acquisition marks a new milestone to Astra’s journey to a successful future.”
DAW's co-publishers and co-owners, Elizabeth R. Wollheim and Sheila E. Gilbert, with continue to head the imprint, which will be Astra's sole SFF imprint. "We think this is the perfect fit for us, and it’s exciting and refreshing to be an integral part of a new and growing company. It speaks volumes about Astra’s respect for our company that they have included our entire staff," Wolheim and Gilbert said in a joint statement.
Distribution for DAW Books will move from being distributed by the Penguin division of Penguin Random House, to the Penguin Random House Publisher Services division, which distributes all of Astra Publishing House books.
David Lamb and Susan Reich of Book Advisors LLC initiated the transaction and served as lead investment banking representative for DAW.
