The Continuum International Publishing Group has acquired the Morehouse Group for an undisclosed price. The Morehouse Group—which includes the Morehouse, Trinity Press International and Living the Good News imprints—publishes Episcopal, academic and general trade titles, as well as lectionary-based curricula for Episcopal, Catholic and Lutheran churches and Christian education resources. The company currently publishes about 60 books per year.
Since it was formed by the merger of U.K. academic and religion publisher Cassell and New York—based Continuum Publishing in 1999, Continuum International has been steadily acquiring the theological and academic lists of a variety of British and American publishers, including A&C Black, T&T Clark, Burns & Oates, Letts, the Althone Press, Sheffield Academic, Handsel Press and the U.K. Sheed & Ward. In addition to trade books, Continuum publishes monographs, textbooks, reference works and journals.
Continuum chairman Philip Sturrock characterized the acquisition as part of the company's strategy of growing its religion publishing presence in the U.S. market. "This increases our reach in the U.S., especially into the Episcopal and Roman Catholic markets. It gives us an added dimension here," he told PW.
Kenneth H. Quigley, president and CEO of the privately held Morehouse Group, said, "The owners felt it would be better for Morehouse to be owned by book publishers, and through the acquisition we expect to gain expertise in publishing, greater access to markets and higher awareness in the U.K." Quigley will continue in his current role, and Morehouse offices in Harrisburg, Pa., and Denver will remain open. Both Sturrock and Quigley emphasized that no changes in staffing, title output or list emphasis are planned. Said Sturrock, "The reason we got together is that we like what they are doing, and we can all learn from each other."
