The investment banking firm Willis Stein has sold Troll Communications to the private equity firm Quad Ventures LLC for an undisclosed price. Willis Stein had acquired Troll from Torstar Corp. in 1999 for $70 million, but sold the company's book fair operation to Scholastic in 2001.
Troll is now focused on the book club and children's publishing businesses. It operates four clubs and publishes between 50 and 100 titles annually under the Troll and Bridgewater imprints. In addition to selling its proprietary books through its clubs, Troll reaches the retail market through Andrews McMeel.
Andrew Kaplan, a partner at Quad, said Troll is a "terrific brand" that is in a "great marketing channel." He said Quad plans to "leverage our management talent and strategic partnerships" to help Troll grow. Other education companies in Quad's portfolio are Chancery Student Management Solutions, Educational Standards and Certifications, and KnowledgePlanet.
Quad has brought in Peter Bergen, one-time CEO of Weekly Reader Corp. and Krames Communications as CEO of Troll, which will remain based in Mahwah, N.J. Kaplan said Bergen's background in direct marketing and education made him the perfect fit to lead Troll. Bergen told PW he has no plans to make major changes, noting that he was "pleased with the direction" of Troll's direct marketing efforts. The one immediate change that Bergen is overseeing is increasing the number of titles Troll offers through its clubs, and Bergen said the company may add more clubs in the future. Bergen said he also hopes to strengthen Troll's relationships with publishers and other strategic partners.
Kaplan acknowledged that there are no current synergies between Troll and other Quad holdings, but said that could change as the firm invests in additional education-related companies.
