The obstacles that briefly delayed Rowman & Littlefield's acquisition of the assets of bankrupt U.K. distributor Plymbridge have been removed, and the NBN parent company said late last month that the deal has been finalized. Rowman & Littlefield will not be assuming any of the debt of the previous owner, an issue that had been one of the main points holding up the deal. Creditors will need to work out arrangements with Alan Tomlinson, the administrator handling old debts.
R&W said it hopes to work out new distribution agreements with many of Plymbridge's 120 current clients and may even take on some new publishers, with some already contacting the company. R&W's publishing group was a Plymbridge client. "When I got here, I had little hope of being able to do this deal," said Rowman & Littlefield COO Irv Myers, speaking from the U.K. He added that despite Plymbridge's bankruptcy, he is not worried about the long term and doesn't think clients should be either. "The operation is stabilized. They just ran out of money," he said. Myers will be running the Plymbridge unit.
Back in the U.S., NBN has promoted Spencer Gale to v-p of marketing. He had been NBN's account manager for Barnes & Noble. Industry veteran Dick McCullough, most recently, v-p sales and marketing, for Millbrook Press, has been named to assume Gale's old duties.
