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NEW YORK, Feb 6, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- France's Lagardere SCA is paying $537.5 million to buy Time Warner Inc.'s book group, the companies said Monday.
The deal for Time Warner Book Group will make Lagardere's Book Publishing operation the world's third largest.
Time Warner Book Group includes such bestselling authors as Nelson DeMille, Nicholas Sparks, James Patterson, David Baldacci and Malcolm Gladwell. Besides adult trade, it publishes illustrated, religious and children's books and has also developed an audio-book imprint. Time Warner Book Group also distributes for third party publishers like Disney and Microsoft.
"This acquisition of the Time Warner Book Group represents an ambitious strategic move for our book publishing operations, which have proven to be a source of revenue growth and improved profitability," a Labardere spokesman said.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
