Baker & Taylor Acquires Blackwell North America

Press Release

Baker & Taylor Acquires Blackwell North America
and James Bennett

– Blackwell U.K. Acquires B&T’s Lindsay and Croft in the U.K. As Part of Deal. Customers to Benefit from More than 300 Years of Bookselling Excellence –

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – December 7, 2009 – Baker & Taylor Inc. today announced it has acquired Blackwell Book Services North America (BNA) and Blackwell’s Australia-based James Bennett bookseller.

Also as part of the deal, Blackwell U.K. will acquire Baker & Taylor’s Lindsay and Croft business in the U.K.

“Our organizations share a passion for bookselling, a rich history and a reputation for superior customer service,” said Tom Morgan, CEO of Baker & Taylor. “With our collective knowledge and breadth of scholarly inventory and value-added services, academic libraries around the world will be extremely well served.”

The combination of Baker & Taylor’s YBP Library Services and Blackwell’s North American and Australian businesses brings together the world’s most respected and trusted academic and research library service providers. The shared commitment to service through partnerships with libraries, consortia and suppliers, coupled with outstanding reputations for professionalism, knowledge and integrity, will allow the expanded U.S.-based YBP Library Services to better meet the rapidly evolving information and workflow needs of academic libraries around the globe for years to come.

In addition to the acquisitions, Baker & Taylor’s YBP Library Services and Blackwell U.K. have entered into a strategic sourcing agreement under which YBP Library Services will source all U.K.-published academic material from Blackwell U.K., and Blackwell U.K. will source all U.S.-published academic material from YBP Library Services. This agreement will enable both businesses to offer their respective customers all over the globe the largest and most in-depth supply of scholarly materials.

Andrew Hutchings, Group CEO of Blackwell, said, “I am confident that this reciprocal agreement will enable Blackwell and YBP Library Services to build on their respective strengths and continue to deliver the high quality services that academic libraries around the world require.”

With this acquisition, Baker & Taylor’s YBP Library Services will continue to offer the collection development and workflow services – print and electronic approval plans, firm and rush orders, continuations and technical services – that customers have relied on for years.

Additional services that were previously unique to one provider, such as Blackwell’s Table of Contents Catalog Enrichment Service or YBP Library Services’ GOBI3 bibliographic service, will soon be offered to all customers. By combining mutual best practices, the companies can provide a superior level of customer service that was never before possible.

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Amy Baldwin
Communications Manager
Baker & Taylor
p 704-998-3136
c 704-519-6232
www.baker-taylor.com