Less than one week after joining forces with Mondadori to form a $100-million Spanish-language publishing venture (News, Mar. 26), Random House has reached an agreement to acquire Sacramento, Calif.-based Prima Communications. Founded in 1984, Prima has carved a niche for itself as one of the leading publishers of video and computer game guides, an area in which Random has had no presence. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close this spring, were not disclosed.
In addition to its guides, published under the Prima Games imprint, the company publishes computer and technology titles under the Prima Tech imprint, as well as books on natural health, parenting, education, business and current events through the Prima Lifestyle Group. The company, which publishes 300 titles annually and has a 700-title backlist, also operates a number of Web sites, including primagames.com and tnp.com (the natural pharmacist). Gross sales last year topped $100 million.
After the sale is completed, Ben Dominitz, founder, chairman and CEO of Prima, will become chairman emeritus of Prima as well as a Random senior v-p, special projects, reporting to Richard Sarnoff, president of Random's new media and corporate development groups. Dominitz told PW he believes Prima will "fit nicely" with Random and that the company "will benefit from Random House's financial and global resources." He noted that Prima is planning to "ramp up" its output of video and game guides, a process that will be helped by being part of the Random family.
Random spokesperson Stuart Applebaum said the company plans no major changes at Prima's Sacramento headquarters, which employs about 140 people. "One of the attractions of Prima is that it gives Crown Publishing a West Coast editorial presence," Applebaum said. When the sale is finalized, titles in the Prima Lifestyle Group will become part of Crown, while Prima Games and Prima Tech will become part of the Random House Information Group.
In addition to its Sacramento headquarters, Prima has offices in Indianapolis, the U.K., Germany and France. Prima has been using Simon & Schuster to handle its distribution and fulfillment and details of switching to Random are still being worked out.
