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The big five publishers were owed about £15m by Bertrams before it was acquired by Smiths News, late last week. It has also emerged that publishers increased their liability towards Bertrams|THE in the weeks before its takeover to help safeguard the deal.
Ian Hudson, president of the Publishers Association and deputy c.e.o of Random House, told The Bookseller that the publishers, Random House, Hachette, Penguin, HarperCollins and Macmillan, agreed to undergo a "stock swap" with Bertram|THE. This meant that publishers would take returns from the wholesaler and allow it to pick a selection of new books to their value. If Bertrams|THE had not found a buyer, the five publishers would have been liable for additional printing and distribution costs.
Since Woolworths went into administration in November, the wholesaler had been trading with the big five on a pro forma basis.
Following the sale terms have reverted to what they were before Woolworths' collapsed. Hudson said that the wholesaler would not be given additional discounts, as Bertrams|THE tries to regain business lost during the period it was seeking a buyer. He said: "I don't think there will be any change in terms but it will be far far better off then it used to be. Bertrams|THE was a successful business making good profit before Woolworths pulled them down. It needs to get back onto old trading terms."
He added that he believed it would be around three weeks before availability returned to normal levels.