Munich, Germany-based Langenscheidt KG has added the assets of Hammond Inc. to its U.S. portfolio. Terms of the deal, which closed earlier this month, were not disclosed.
Founded in 1900, Hammond is one of the country's largest map publishing companies and is in the forefront of mapping technology. The company has digitized virtually its entire product line; in 1992, it spent $12 million to publish the first digitized world atlas, The Hammond Atlas of the World, which was updated last year. Chairman Dean Hammond told PW that, with the consolidation that is occurring in the industry, Hammond was looking for a partner with more resources, particularly in marketing. "We've had a long-term relationship with Langenscheidt, and a deal with them seemed to make sense," Hammond explained.
Stuart Dolgins, president of Langenscheidt, said the purchase fills a hole for the company. "We couldn't compete in the atlas market. Now we can offer customers a full package of atlases, maps, travel guides and bilingual dictionaries." Among the marketing opportunities Dolgins sees for this newest acquisition are distributing Hammond products to such chains as Staples and CVS.
Dolgins said that Hammond will remain based in Maplewood, N.J., and that nearly all of its roughly 45-person workforce will join Langenscheidt. Langenscheidt will continue to use the Hammond name on appropriate products. As a subsidiary of Langenscheidt, Hammond will now be known as the Hammond World Atlas Corp. It joins other well-known Langenscheidt brands Hagstrom Map, American Map, Trakker Maps and the Insight Guides travel series. The Maspeth, N.Y., arm of Langenscheidt had about 330 employees in the U.S. prior to the Hammond acquisition.
