Drake Star Partners has acted as exclusive financial advisor to American Management Association International (AMA) in its divestiture of the trade book assets of AMACOM to HarperCollins Publishers.
HarperCollins will take over all front list and backlist publication, sales, distribution, and licensing of the more than 600 books in AMACOM’s catalog. AMACOM, which primarily focuses on personal and professional growth and business leadership, will be a sub-imprint of the recently launched HarperCollins Leadership (HCL) imprint, which is run out of the company’s Nashville, TN offices. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Manny Avramidis, President and CEO of AMA, says: “I am pleased that HarperCollins, a top global publisher, realises the strength in AMACOM. I am confident that HarperCollins is well-positioned to take AMACOM’s world-class authors and title list to the next level. After a detailed review of our operations and key strengths, with the counsel of Drake Star Partners, AMA decided to divest AMACOM. AMA will continue to focus on a strategic expansion of its core business, best-in-class professional training and development.
“Jim Holzer and his team at Drake Star Partners provided invaluable guidance in understanding our business and leveraging their knowledge of the human capital management and training sector to help us achieve an excellent outcome. Their deep experience in sellside M&A enabled us to complete a transaction that uniquely satisfied all of our objectives.”
Holzer, Managing Partner at Drake Star Partners, says: “Known around the world for its unmatched content and effectiveness in developing business professionals at all levels, AMA is an organisation that we are truly proud to have served. We look forward to seeing AMA’s continued success in the HCM and training markets.”
“Business, management and leadership are key growth areas for HarperCollins internationally,” says Brian Murray, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers. “The purchase of AMACOM’s trade publishing will allow us to broaden our catalog of books with potential in emerging markets, from Asia to South America. It is a natural fit for our expanding publishing programs.”
Business development, marketing and editorial for AMACOM will be led by Jeff James, Vice President and Publisher of HCL.
“Acquiring AMACOM books extends our connectivity with the business professional audience and gives us a deeper product offering in this highly sought-after segment,” says James. “We are excited to represent the highly-accessible content found in titles like The First-Time Manager, Just Listen, and Paul Falcone’s well-known 2600 Phrases series. We are working hard to ensure that AMACOM authors and agents experience a smooth transition in becoming part of our organisation.”
