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International sales agency Gunnar Lie & Associates Ltd (GLA) is being acquired by Compass Independent Book Sales Ltd (CIPS).
GLA will be under new management from this month as founder Gunnar Lie is retiring. Denise Lie, director of GLA, said that although Gunnar Lie has been unwell for some time his retirement has been long planned and he had already initiated discussions with CIPS chairman Alan Leitch prior to his period of ill health.
The GLA sales operation will run alongside the existing Compass trade and Compass academic divisions, headed by Simon Kingsley and Lee Morgan respectively.
Denise Lie said: "We are delighted that the business is being acquired by CIPS. The culture and ethos of both businesses are very similar, and Gunnar and I have no doubt that CIPS will prove to be the perfect and ideal new home for GLA, and an excellent partner for all our clients. The international market for trade books is continually evolving and we are confident that GLA will continue to grow as we look forward very positively to the opportunities in export."
Leitch commented: "Our client publishers and trade customers will see no change in the service from GLA or from Compass. All of us are passionately committed to the business of selling and promoting books, and we look forward to working with our partners to continue building on the success of both businesses. Combining the collective strengths and experience of the two companies will also create potential opportunities for growth in both the home and export market."
GLA was founded by Gunnar Lie in 1995 and provides export sales and marketing representation for general book publishers to all export territories, excluding North America and Australasia. It represents a broad range of lists and specialises in illustrated non-fiction, and has extensive collective experience of exporting for major UK book publishers.
CIPS was established in 1998 by Alan Jessop, who previously worked with Gunnar Lie at Reed Consumer Books. It provides independent book sales and account management services across the UK and Ireland to publishers in the general books market. In 2004 the company launched Compass Academic, which provides similar services to academic and specialist publishers.