Swets Blackwell acquires Munksgaard Direct (Sarah Kellman) Marcia Tuttle 27 Oct 2000 15:08 UTC
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 14:29:09 +0200 From: Sarah Kellman <skellman@SWETS.NL> Subject: Swets Blackwell acquires Munksgaard Direct PRESS RELEASE Lisse and Copenhagen, 27 October 2000 Swets Blackwell acquires Munksgaard Direct Swets Blackwell and Munksgaard announced today the signing of an agreement stating that Swets Blackwell have acquired Munksgaard Direct, the book and subscription service division of the Munksgaard Group. The agreement is effective from October 2000, and will result in Swets Blackwell becoming Denmark's leading agent within the business of subscription, database and electronic information services. Swets Blackwell currently maintains an office in Glostrup, Denmark, but will move their operations to Copenhagen. The turnover of Swets Blackwell Denmark will be 160 million Danish kroner (nearly 18 million US$). Integration of Munksgaard Direct's activities into Swets Blackwell Denmark will take place over the next 7- 8 months. All current employees of Munksgaard Direct will transition into the new company, bringing the total number of staff to 40. The Manager of Swets Blackwell's Glostrup office, Peter Munksgaard (no relation), will remain the manager of the new, expanded operation. He commented: "It is exciting to see Denmark's two leading agents combine forces. This agreement will result in Swets Blackwell's being able to offer an even higher level of service for our customers in Denmark than ever before. " Since its founding in 1917, Munksgaard has evolved from a traditional bookseller to an international supplier of books, journals and electronic media. Their publishing division, Munksgaard International Publishers, will remain separate from Swets Blackwell. More information on Munksgaard Direct can be found by visiting www.munksgaard.dk. Swets Blackwell is the single largest subscription agent in the world, handling 2 million subscriptions annually from a database containing nearly 250,000 titles from over 65,000 publishers. Swets Blackwell communicates in 25 languages with over 60,000 academic, research & development, medical, corporate and government library customers through their branches in 19 countries across five continents. Note to Editors: For further information on Swets Blackwell please contact Sarah Kellman, Communication Executive. Tel: +31 252 435 584 Fax: +31 252 415 888 Email: press@nl.swetsblackwell.com www.swetsblackwell.com For more information about Munksgaard please contact Bjarne Ponikowski, Director. Tel: + 45 77 33 32 64 Fax: + 45 77 33 33 88 Email: bpo@munksgaard.dk