Science Fiction Book Club Changing Owners

The International Herald-Tribune reports that Bertelsmann AG is selling its North American book club business to a U.S. private investor. Among Bertelsmann’s book clubs is the Science Fiction Book Club.

Bertelsmann, the owner of publisher Random House, said that the sale of Direct Group North America to Phoenix, Arizona-based Najafi Companies should close during this quarter. Financial details of the deal between the privately held companies were not disclosed.

The Direct Group operates book, music and DVD clubs in the U.S. and Canada, including Columbia House and the Book-of-the-Month Club. Bertelsmann said those brands serve millions of members.

[Thanks to Dan Goodman for the story.]

One thought on “Science Fiction Book Club Changing Owners

  1. Huh. Not sure what this will eventually mean for the SFBC.

    Looking at their website, it looks like Najafi invests in a wide variety of businesses. Some of their other recent acquisitions have been a large local (Phoenix) home-building company, an Internet company that hooks up do-gooder organizations with corporate sponsors, and Pert shampoo.

    Possibly irrelevant fact: Some of SFBC’s (and other clubs) offerings are shipped out of a Phoenix warehouse.

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