Lakeside Book Company, one of the largest book printing, binding, and distribution companies in North America, has bought Baker & Taylor Publisher Services as well as B&T's print-on-demand facilities, both with headquarters in Ashland, Ohio. B&T closed in October. Lakeside Book's roots are in the R.R. Donnelley Company.
Lakeside said that its acquisition of B&T Publisher Services, which provides distribution services for publishers, is "a great strategic fit for the company's end-to-end book supply chain portfolio," expanding "its service offering to include distribution and order-to-cash capabilities, providing publishers with streamlined and integrated solutions to sell, print, store, and distribute their books with Lakeside Book Company."
B&T Publisher Services clients include Severn River Publishing, Central European University Press, Guideposts, Little Creek Press, CamCat Books, Con Todo Press, Yad Vashem, and more.
B&T Publisher Services will be merged into the Lakeside Book Company brand and led by Michael Shea, president of book services at Lakeside Book. Shea commented: "The services offered by BTPS are a perfect fit within Lakeside Book's end-to-end solutions for publishers, from sales all the way through order-to-cash. Small and mid-sized publishers, a key customer base for BTPS and high growth opportunity across our industry, will now have direct access to Lakeside Book's expansive book manufacturing capabilities, creating a seamless supply chain under one financially strong partner focused exclusively on the book business."
The POD operations acquisition "complements Lakeside Book's existing digital print platform and strengthens offerings to customers of both organizations."