Australia's Text Media Group, which owns Text Publishing, one of the country's most innovative independent publishers, has accepted the takeover offer made in September by John Fairfax, the large Australian media company, according to Thorpe-Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter. The deal is worth A$64.7 million (about $46.4 million); shareholders have until December 13 to accept.
Bruce Wolpe, Fairfax's manager of corporate affairs, told WBN that Text's "book division is certainly well known to us and [publisher] Michael Heyward is held in high regard. We look forward to meeting with him... and figuring out where to go forward from there."
Originally a Reed joint venture, Text Publishing became independent in 1993. It releases about 40 titles a year, a mix of nonfiction (philosophy, history, sports and memoir), literary fiction and crime. Fairfax is a major News Corp. rival.
