Connect Books sold for just £6 million

Friday, 16 February 2018 Books+Publishing

UK book wholesaler and distributor Connect Books has been sold to private equity firm Aurelius for £6 million ($A10.6 million), which is nearly half of the sale price originally agreed upon by the two parties, reports the Bookseller.

Munich-based firm Aurelius originally agreed to buy Connect Books for ‘up to’ £11.6 million (A$20.58 million) in December, but reneged on the agreement in January, reasoning that there was ‘no way of financing’ the distributor. The Connect Group subsequently threatened legal action.

As of 15 February, Connect Books has been sold to Aurelius under revised sale terms. Aurelius has rebranded the company back to the Bertram Group, saying the focus going forward will be on ‘driving efficiencies’ and ‘accelerating growth’ across divisions. It also intends to grow international sales.

Chief executive of Aurelius Dirk Markus said, ‘Connect Books is an exciting business and one for which Aurelius’ specialism is very well suited.’

Connect Books managing director Justin Adams told the Bookseller ‘talks between the Connect Group and Aurelius never really ended’. ‘The process has been a bit drawn out, but Aurelius has always been interested in the business,’ said Adams.

Connect Books consists of Bertram Books, Wordery.com, Dawson Books, Bertrams Library Services, Erasmus, and Houtschild.

Category: International news