synopsis: Random House, the world’s largest publisher of consumer books, has acquired Ten Speed Press, a Berkeley, Calif., independent publisher of business; cooking; and mind, body and spirit titles. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

synopsis: Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc. announced the acquisition of Imagine Publishing of New York, a publisher of unique and eclectic books for children and adults. Charlesbridge has begun shipping Imagine Publishing titles immediately from their Massachusetts warehouse.

synopsis: The Perseus Books Group and the Avalon Publishing Group, two independent companies with an eclectic blend of imprints and authors, announced that they have signed a letter of intent for Avalon to merge into the Perseus group.

synopsis: Quebecor Media Inc. is pleased to announce that it has closed its acquisition of Sogides ltee, the largest publishing and distribution group in Quebec. The company includes Editions de l'Homme, Le Jour, Utilis, Les Presses Libres and Groupe Ville-Marie Litterature, as well as a distribution subsidiary, Les Messageries A.D.P.

synopsis: Bloomsbury Publishing, a leading independent publishing house, announced the sale of its German subsidiary Bloomsbury Verlag GmbH to a subsidiary of Bonnier AB and a strategic publishing partnership in Germany with Piper Verlag, a company in the Bonnier AB Group.

synopsis: Croatian privately-held concern Agrokor said it has agreed to sell its stake in local publishing company, Znanje, to Graficar, a Croatian printing company.

synopsis: Scholastic Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement with Sandvik AS to purchase its U.S. direct-to-home continuities business.

synopsis: Pete Ayrton, publisher of Serpent’s Tail, and Andrew Franklin, publisher of Profile Books, today announced that they are to join forces with the acquisition by Profile Books Ltd of Serpent’s Tail. This brings together two of the most distinctive, highly regarded and fiercely independent small publishers in London.

synopsis: Richard Berger, President of First Classics, Inc., announced the purchase of Classics Illustrated properties from the California-based Frawley Corporation. The complete purchase of the trademarks, copyright and other assets of the Classics Illustrated line amount to over 800 titles.

synopsis: Kirkus Reviews, widely considered the nation’s leading prepublication journal of book reviews, has been acquired by businessman Herb Simon from The Nielsen Company. Under the new ownership, Kirkus Reviews will operate under the name Kirkus Media and will be led by Marc Winkelman, a book industry veteran and CEO of Calendar Holdings.

synopsis: Acorn Media Group acquired a 64% controlling interest in Agatha Christie Ltd. from Chorion, which gives the media company access to more than 80 novels and short story collections, 19 plays, nearly 40 telepics and characters including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

synopsis: Japanese publisher Gentosha Inc. said that a tender offer led by its president, Toru Kenjo, has been completed in success.

synopsis: Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm, announced that one of its affiliates has acquired a controlling interest in Lang Holdings, Inc., a leading supplier of art, design and sports driven calendars, back-to-school products, greeting cards and stationary.

synopsis: FAIRFAX Media has moved to recapture lost real estate advertising revenue in Victoria through a merger with Metro Media Publishing. Under the deal, Fairfax would pay $35 million and fold its Fairfax Community Newspapers into MMP. Fairfax said it would own 50 per cent voting and economic interest in MMP after the transaction was completed.

synopsis: Barnes & Noble Inc, the world's largest bookseller, has sold its majority interest in Calendar Club for about $1 million in cash and $6 million in notes. Barnes & Noble sold the stake to Calendar Club and to its chief executive.

synopsis: Kairos Transmedia announced its acquisition of The Magazine, Canada's leading and best-known national publication targeted to the pre-teen and teen market. Launched in 2000, The Magazine covers music, movies, television, social issues, the environment, health topics and just about anything that affects the lives of 8 to 14 year-olds.

synopsis: Hearst Corporation announced that it has completed the acquisition of the majority of the Hachette China operations. The acquisition includes most of Hachette's magazine-related activities in China and oversight of seven titles, including global media superbrand ELLE, as well as Car and Driver, Woman's Day and Psychologies.

synopsis: Najafi Companies, a Phoenix, Arizona-based private investment company, has agreed to acquire the direct-to-consumer business, Direct Group North America, from Bertelsmann AG the two companies announced today. The sale agreement, which was entered into earlier this week, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008.

synopsis: Active Interest Media, Inc. has acquired The Collector's Guide - an annual guidebook serving art collectors and enthusiasts seeking information about art and culture of New Mexico, AIM president and chief executive officer Efrem "Skip" Zimbalist III announced today.

synopsis: Jann Wenner, the magazine entrepreneur who founded Rolling Stone, has bought out The Walt Disney Co.'s 50 percent stake in Us Weekly magazine for $300 million. Disney, which reported earnings Wednesday, said it was selling its 50 percent stake in the magazine to Wenner for about $300 million, having bought the stake for $40 million in 2001.

synopsis: Random House, the world’s largest publisher of consumer books, has acquired Ten Speed Press, a Berkeley, Calif., independent publisher of business; cooking; and mind, body and spirit titles. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

synopsis: Random House, the world’s largest publisher of consumer books, has acquired Ten Speed Press, a Berkeley, Calif., independent publisher of business; cooking; and mind, body and spirit titles. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

synopsis: Random House, Inc., the largest English-language trade book publisher, announced today that it has purchased one of the nation’s leading evangelical Christian book publishing houses, Multnomah Publishers. The acquisition significantly strengthens the company’s presence in the burgeoning Christian book marketplace.

synopsis: BBC Books, which publishes spinoff titles from TV shows including Delia Smith's How to Cook, has been acquired by German media giant Bertelsmann's Random House.

synopsis: Random House Publishing Group said Monday that it acquired Chicago-based Triumph Books, the largest publisher of sports-related books in the industry. The Random House Inc. publishing unit said the acquisition will help it expand its portfolio of sports titles.

synopsis: Random House, the world's biggest publisher of consumer books, said on Wednesday its investment arm has become a significant minority shareholder in Philadelphia-based American Reading Co., but financial terms were not disclosed.

synopsis: British private equity group Apax is pulling out of Dutch publishing group PCM. Apax bought 47.5% of PCM, which publishes the Volkskrant, NRC and Trouw newspapers, in July 2004.

synopsis: BBC Books, which publishes spinoff titles from TV shows including Delia Smith's How to Cook, has been acquired by German media giant Bertelsmann's Random House.

synopsis: Aaron's Book Corner Acquires Brightside Press.

synopsis: Lagardere SCA and Time Warner Inc. announced that Lagardere will acquire Time Warner Book Group, the fifth largest U.S. book publisher for US $537.5 million. Through this transaction, Lagardere's Book Publishing branch will become #3 worldwide.

synopsis: The nearly-finalized purchase of French publishing group Editis by Spain’s Grupo Planeta for approximately €200 million (approximately US$310,655,000) would create a giant European publisher of Spanish-language books and expand in Latin America, with a French twist.

synopsis: Mentor Medier completed the acquisition of Ny Tid Magazine from N.W. Damm & Søn on January 2, 2008.

synopsis: Audio Editions today announced that it has acquired the exclusive license for the use of the Audio Book Club company assets, including its brand, website and customer list. The agreement establishes Audio Editions as the world’s largest catalog seller of general interest audiobooks.

synopsis: Leading online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. has acquired Brilliance Audio the largest independent publisher of audiobooks in the United States. The acquisition will enable Amazon to work closely with the book publishing community to further expand the number of books produced in audio format and provide customers with an even greater selection.

synopsis: Freedom Communications announced that it has reached agreement to sell The Telegraph in Alton, IL, The Journal-Courier in Jacksonville, IL, The Sedalia Democrat in Sedalia, MO and The Lima News in Lima, OH, to an affiliate of Philadelphia-based private equity firm Versa Capital Management, LLC.

synopsis: Norwegian media group A-Pressen says it plans to buy Edda Media from the European publishing company Mecom. Edda Media AS is a Norwegian media group that owns a number of Norwegian newspapers, television channels, radio channels and websites.

synopsis: Sichuan Xinhua Winshare Chainst Co., Ltd has entered into an acquisition agreement to acquire the entire interests in the 15 companies in total, all of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sichuan Publication Group Company Limited (SPG).

synopsis: Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company announced that Disney has completed its acquisition of renowned character franchise company, Marvel Entertainment Inc. Marvel’s assets include a library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over 70 years.

synopsis: The Topps Company, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Michael Eisner's The Tornante Company LLC and Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Topps stockholders will receive $9.75 per share in cash, for a total transaction value of approximately $385.4 million.

synopsis: H & K Publications was acquired by Metro Group, Inc. on January 11, 2007.

synopsis: MyFamily.com, Inc., the leading online network connecting families, present and past, announced today that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Heritage Makers, L.L.C., a Springville, Utah, company that helps people discover, preserve, and celebrate their family heritage.

synopsis: RCS MediaGroup announces that it has reached a preliminary agreement to sell its participation in GE Fabbri Limited to Eaglemoss Holding (UK) Limited, an international partworks company part of the Financière Aurénis group. Eaglemoss Holding (UK) Limited will acquire the entire participation of RCS, equal to 51.1% of the GE Fabbri capital.

synopsis: The consortium of investors cancelled the acquisition of Philadelphia Newspapers LLC from Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC

synopsis: The British arm of Reader's Digest was pulled out of bankruptcy by Jon Moulton's Better Capital private equity firm. Reader's Digest Association Ltd. will continue to be published under its well-known name after its buyers struck a license agreement with its former U.S. parent, the Reader's Digest Association Inc.

synopsis: Yellow Pages Income Fund announced that it has finalized the acquisition of Canadian Phone Directories Holdings Inc. ("Canpages") from an investor group led by private equity firm HM Capital Partners. Canpages is a local search and directories publisher in Canada.

synopsis: Gannett Co., Inc. and Oahu Publications, Inc. (OPI) announced they have reached an agreement for OPI to acquire The Honolulu Advertiser and related assets including website, non-daily publications and Gannett’s interest in Hawaii.com. Gannett will maintain its ownership of 605 Kapiolani Blvd., Honolulu. The financial terms were not disclosed.