Baker & Taylor Signs Deals With Two Major Publishers

NEW YORK, May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world's largest distributor of physical and digital books and entertainment products, today at BookExpo America announced it has signed agreements to provide print-on-demand services – via its TextStream Digital Print Service unit – to Simon & Schuster and German academic publisher De Gruyter.

"These world-class publishers have put their trust in Baker & Taylor and TextStream, and that speaks volumes about our commitment to becoming the leader in digital services for our publishing partners," said Tom Morgan, CEO of Baker & Taylor.

The agreements with Simon & Schuster and De Gruyter illustrate Baker & Taylor's latest success in expanding TextStream's presence in the publishing community. Working with a combination of on-site and near-site facilities, TextStream provides publishers with a truly comprehensive suite of print-on-demand and print-to-order services and a wide variety of formats and trim sizes.

TextStream's flexibility and industry-leading customer reach, coupled with its capabilities in private label consumer direct fulfillment and Web hosting, make it especially advantageous to publishers by providing product to specialized audiences and academic libraries on an as-needed basis.

"With TextStream, we ensure that our books are available for our readers for – well, forever," said Joseph D'Onofrio, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Operations at Simon & Schuster.

And Peter Neusser, General Director of De Gruyter North America, said, "At De Gruyter, we deeply appreciate Baker & Taylor's penetration into the academic library market, which opens up new avenues for our extensive backlist, dating back to the 1740s."  

About Baker & Taylor

Baker & Taylor, Inc. (www.baker-taylor.com) is a global information and entertainment services company that offers print and digital books and entertainment products along with value-added services to libraries, educational institutions and retailers. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the company has been in existence for more than 180 years, developing long-term relationships with major suppliers, including book publishers, movie studios and music labels. Baker & Taylor maintains one of the largest combined in-stock book, video and music inventories in the United States, and services the broadest customer base in the industry. Baker & Taylor is majority owned by Castle Harlan Partners IV, L.P., an institutional private equity fund managed by Castle Harlan Inc., a leading private equity investment firm.

About Simon & Schuster (www.simonandschuster.com)

Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

About Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG (www.degruyter.de)

For more than 260 years, the name De Gruyter has been synonymous with high-quality, landmark publications in the humanities and natural sciences. The scope of De Gruyter's publishing program includes theology and philosophy, biology and chemistry, linguistics and literature, mathematics and physics, history and archaeology, as well as law and medicine. In all these areas De Gruyter has consistently partnered with exceptional scholars to establish itself as a key international publisher.

SOURCE Baker & Taylor, Inc.