Bertelsmann buys TimeWarner's half of Bookspan

Bertelsmann has announced it is buying TimeWarner's 50% stake in their joint Bookspan venture, effective immediately.

Bookspan was formed in 2000 when TW's Book-of-the-Month Club and Bertelsmann's Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club joined forces. Terms of the deal weren't made public, although The Wall Street Journal reported the price in the range of $150 million.

Bertelsmann will bring Bookspan into the BMG Columbia House unit. Bookspan's head, Markus Wilhelm, is leaving the company, and BMG's Stuart Goldfarb, who is already president and CEO of BMG Columbia House, will run the newly combined company.

One of the many book clubs under the Bookspan umbrella is the Science Fiction Book Club.

Update on 21 May: See our newer article: Bertelsmann cutting book clubs and jobs; SFBC may be affected.