The trend of independent publishers teaming up continues with the announcement that Forefront Books and Histria Books have joined together to take a majority stake in the U.K.-based Unicorn Publishing Group. To make the investment, Forefront and Histria formed the Unified Publishing Group (UPG), which is being led by Jonathan Merkh, president and CEO of Forefront Books, who is now also CEO of UPG. Kurt Brackob, director of Histria Books, is the COO, and David Howell, Forefront’s CFO, will serve in the same capacity for UPG. Lord Strathcarron, chairman of Unicorn Publishing Group, will continue in his current role.
UPG comprises two hybrid publishers—Forefront and Unicorn—and a traditional publisher in Histria. Merkh said the combination offers a good mix of different business models and categories. He noted that Unicorn is best known for its four-color books, while Forefront specializes in mostly nonfiction trade and Histria specializes in general interest, fiction, children’s books, as well as scholarly titles. The three publishers will continue to focus on their areas of specialization while also looking to collaborate on international coeditions.
The creation of UPG will save on some back office costs, while also opening up distribution channels for all three companies. Forefront and Histria will have access to Unicorn’s U.K. sales force, while Unicorn titles will be distributed in the U.S. by Forefront’s distributor Simon & Schuster. With the deal, Histria will move its distribution from IPG to S&S.
Merkh told PW he will devote a fair amount of his time to managing Unicorn, bringing his extensive experience in hybrid publishing to the U.K. where the practice is less ingrained.
The formation of UPG follows the launch of the Stable Group and the Publishers Cooperative in February, in which a number of indie publishers formed alliances in a bid to gain economies of scale and more market power. "The time is ripe for innovation," Merkh said, adding that in the current market, "we have to do it ourselves."
The Fisher Company, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions, brokered the deal.
