U.K. book distributor Martson Book Services is on the brink of administration, with the company's U.S owner, Independent Publishers Group, now seeking a buyer amid threats of winding up petitions.
Marstons clients were alerted to the situation in a letter yesterday from IPG CEO Joe Matthews. It has subsequently been forwarded to BookBrunch and reproduced below:
"We have made the difficult decision to file a notice of intent to appoint an administrator for Marston Book Services and its parent company United Independent Distributors. For six months now we have worked to find a path forward through a sale of the business, a partnership with investors, and any other option to avoid administration. Despite some interest, those efforts have failed. In particular, our strategic plan to restore the company to profitability requires that we exit the Milton Park facility, and while that move is underway and due to complete by the end of August, the landlord has refused to engage with us on a settlement. We are also facing challenges with our US and UK banks who thus far have decided not to extend further credit. With several statutory demand letters from publishers and threats of winding up petitions, we are simply out of time and must take steps toward administration.
"The business will continue to operate for the next few weeks and I am hopeful that a way forward emerges. Any party interested in discussing a possible solution should reach out to me as soon as possible, and I appreciate any outreach you might be able to facilitate. We also may be able to resolve the issue with the landlord, which would allow us to resume our plan of avoiding administration. Last, we may be able to restructure the business through a "pre-pack" offer that allows us to emerge from administration under a new company without disruption of the business.
"The worst-case scenario, in my opinion, is that no way forward emerges, and the companies enter administration with no go-forward strategy, and no plan to move inventory. I will be reaching out to publishers in the coming days to discuss what options are feasible in these circumstances and in the hope that we find a mutually acceptable way forward."
Contacted by BookBrunch, Matthews said: "I would add that the UID [United Independent Distributors] group of companies were already highly distressed when we acquired them in October 2021. The company is now just months away from profitability if we can finish this move to a single warehouse in Biggleswade (Bedfordshire). I would be very interested to speak with anyone to protect our investment of millions of dollars, or at least help publishers avoid the hardship of the business closing.
"All that said," he added, "I am also hopeful we can avoid administration on our own if we can settle with the landlord of the Milton Park facility (Oxfordshire)."
United Independent Distributors (UID) consisted of Eurospan, Marston Book Services, and Orca Book Services. Marston, which is based in Milton Park, near Didcot in Oxfordshire, was founded in 1974. On its website it names publishers including Debretts, Kew Books, Marshall Cavendish, Rizzoli, Saqi Books, and Verso Books as clients.
The original version of this story ran in the U.K. trade publication BookBrunch.
