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Scholastic and The Book People are to close the joint venture they have been operating since 2002, which brought together the Red House consumer-facing book club and the schools-based School Link book club under one management.
Dick Robinson, chief executive of Scholastic Inc, and Seni Glaister, chief executive of The Book People (TBP), confirmed to The Bookseller in a statement that from the end of next month, 31st July, the two businesses would be split. The statement added that the move "was provided for in the joint venture agreement originally entered into".
Scholastic will now own and operate the School Link school book club, originally set up by TBP, as part of its Scholastic UK school book club business. The Book People will own and operate the Red House consumer book club for children, which was acquired by Scholastic UK in 1999. The decision does not affect Scholastic’s existing shareholding of 15% of The Book People, which was announced at the same time as the joint venture.
Neither company would comment on the timing of the decision, or on any changes to personnel. In its third-quarter results for fiscal 2009, reported in March, Scholastic recorded a non-cash unrealiised loss on a minority investment in a UK book distribution business of $13.5m, which the group attributed 'partially' to The Book People joint venture.
The joint venture was primarily run by TBP, and operated out of TBP’s Godalming base. When it was set up the two companies said they expected the venture to make annual sales of about £10m. At the time 20 sales jobs were transferred from Red House, then owned by Scholastic, to TBP.
Alan Hurcombe, acting group m.d. of Scholastic UK, said: "This is a welcome decision and will have a positive effect on our already strong school book club business. We look forward to sharing our plans and working with all UK schools from the start of the new school year in September."
Last year, TBP took over the management of the Puffin Book Club, and later in the year revived Puffin Post, the children’s book club magazine originally created in 1967.