IDG Books has paid $1.7 million to acquire a 49% stake in a new company to be formed with Macmillan Canada, a division of Canada Publishing Corp. The new company will be called CDG Books Canada and will focus on the publication and distribution of IDG Books' Dummies series, as well as other reference, cooking and sports titles.
Macmillan Canada has been IDG Books' Canadian distributor for eight years, and Canada has been the company's largest foreign market, with total sales of approximately $30 million since 1990. Hart Hillman, formerly president of the professional, trade &reference division of Prentice Hall Canada, has been named president of CDG Books.
Steven Berkowitz, president of IDG Books, said the deal with Macmillan Canada is the company's first move in its plan to expand its global presence. The investment also marks IDG Books' second deal within a month; the company acquired Cliffs Notes in early December (News, Dec. 14, 1998).
