Random House Purchases Multnomah?

Orginally published on Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 8:03 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Multnomah Publishers, the Oregon-based evangelical Christian house, is being sold, according to president and publisher Don Jacobson. On Monday, Jacobson released a statement confirming the decision to sell the company he founded with his wife Brenda in 1987, while not naming the acquiring company. But the buzz at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver this week is all about Random House. A deal is expected to be announced by the end of the month.

Steve Cobb, publisher at WaterBrook Press, a Colorado-based division of Random, said he could neither confirm nor deny the rumors, referring all inquiries to Stuart Applebaum, chief spokesman for Random House, Inc., who told PW, “Religion publishing continues to be an important and growing commitment for us. But Random House, Inc. doesn’t comment on speculation about potential acquisition opportunities.” He added, “It’s probably inevitable that when a company of such consequence and quality as Multnomah becomes available that there will be speculation. We are certainly interested in growing our religion business.” Jacobson declined to comment.

Multnomah had a huge hit five years ago with The Prayer of Jabez, which sold over 8 million copies in 2001, more than any other book that year. Multnomah made ambitious expansion plans based on those sales, but eventually took heavy returns and was forced to reduce staff and title output. Still, the company remains well positioned in the Christian market.

One publishing insider noted some deep history to Random’s desire to acquire Multnomah; in the early 1990s, Bantam Doubleday Dell (before it bought Random) reportedly engaged in serious negotiations to purchase the press, which was at that time was called Questar Publishers, but Jacobson decided not to sell. PW’s source noted that three high-ranking employees were “distressed” by Jacobson’s decision because “they knew what the company needed” and felt that an alliance with BDD would be beneficial. They left Multnomah and later founded WaterBrook, which officially launched in 1996 as an autonomous Christian house under the Random House umbrella. If the rumor is true that Random House is acquiring Multnomah, everything will have come full circle: WaterBrook head Steve Cobb was one of those former Multnomah employees who left the Oregon company.

Fellow publishers speculate that the motivation for the purchase is Multnomah’s rich backlist, which includes more than 600 titles. Although Multnomah has been losing some of its most visible authors—it sold the rights to bestselling novelist Dee Henderson’s books last September to Tyndale and most of Max Lucado’s backlist to W Publishing Group in 2003—it still has a stable of popular CBA writers. Bruce Wilkinson, Randy Alcorn, Lisa Whelchel, James and Shirley Dobson, Andy Stanley and Joni Eareckson Tada all have strong backlist titles with the press. “Random House needs a critical backlist in this market,” said one source. “It’s what pays the rent.”

Another rumor PW keeps hearing at the show is that the acquiring publisher will absorb Multnomah’s backlist, but close down its operations. Adding fuel to that rumor is the fact that several key Multnomah employees—including publicity staff and some editors—have recently left the company.

from Publisher’s Weekly...

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