Mergers & Acquisitions

Spotify has completed its acquisition of digital audiobook distributor Findaway. The Swedish streaming giant has 422 million monthly active users, and will use the Findaway purchase to speed its growth in the audiobook market.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group has acquired North Country Books. Based in Utica, N.Y., North Country has a backlist of about 200 titles, with a focus on regional books about the Adirondacks and Upstate New York.

Through the deal, the U.K.-based literary and talent agency Curtis Brown, which reps such authors as Nigella Lawson and Jojo Moyes and such estates as those of Ian Fleming and A.A. Milne, will continue to operate under its existing structure and management team.

A little more than six months after acquiring Baker & Taylor from the Follett Corp., new owner Amandeep Kochar sold Baker & Taylor UK to the Little Group, parent company of the U.K.'s largest wholesaler, Gardners.

The University of Georgia Press has acquired NewSouth Books, the independent trade publisher based in Montgomery, Ala.

Scott Waxman has struck a deal with Gemini XIII to form Diversion Audio, a new company that will expand on Diversion Podcasts, which Waxman started in 2020 to develop original nonfiction audio series hosted by veteran nonfiction authors.

Sterling Publishing, the publishing division of Barnes & Noble, has made its second acquisition in little more than a month, acquiring the gift and publishing company, Knock Knock.

Pearson issued an announcement Friday confirming that since November, it has rejected two unsolicited takeover offers from the Apollo Global Management equity firm.

In a deal that unites two of the largest independent distributors of self-published books, Draft2Digital has agreed to acquire Smashwords for an undisclosed price. The purchase is expected to be complete by March 1, at which time the combined company will operate under the Draft2Digital name.

Lakeside Book Company, the book printing division of LSC Communications, will acquire Phoenix Color from ALJ Regional Holdings for $134.8 million.