Document 63308

 HACHETTE BOOK GROUP PURCHASES ADULT IMPRINT HYPERION BACKLIST AND TITLES FOR FUTURE PUBLICATION Disney Publishing Worldwide Retains Disney-­‐Hyperion for Children and Young Adults June 28, 2013 – Disney and Hachette Book Group (HBG) announced today Hachette’s agreement to purchase Disney’s adult trade publishing imprint, Hyperion. When the acquisition is completed, HBG will become the publisher of more than 1,000 books published by the Hyperion adult trade book division since its inception in 1991, as well as approximately 25 books scheduled for future publication. Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), the world’s largest publisher and licensor of children’s books, will retain all of its Disney and Disney-­‐Hyperion branded children’s and young adult book titles, and will publish franchise-­‐based titles from Disney/ABC Television Group upon completion of the transaction. A leading boutique trade book publisher, Hyperion has published more than 250 bestselling books, including numerous #1 New York Times bestsellers. Hyperion’s imprimatur has come to represent great commercial and media impact – from Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy with foreword by Caroline Kennedy, to Jamie’s Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver, from Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven to Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture and Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox. HBG will take on Hyperion’s extensive backlist, rich in the areas of inspiration, pop culture, cooking, humor, business, sports, history, self help, fiction, and more, books that continue to sell year after year in a variety of formats and editions. The acquisition supports HBG’s overall strategic focus on growth, and significantly expands the company’s backlist catalog and its non-­‐fiction portfolio. HBG will also publish highly anticipated forthcoming books from award-­‐winning journalist Joanne Lipman, Pulitzer Prize-­‐winning journalist J.R. Moehringer, actor Ethan Hawke, Don’t Know Much About series creator Kenneth Davis and others. The deal delivers on Disney’s strategy to focus efforts on franchise and synergy titles from its television business. DPW, publisher of books across Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm franchises as well as from New York Times best-­‐selling authors Mo Willems, Rick Riordan, Ridley Pearson, and Elizabeth Wein, will take on key ABC, ABC Family and ESPN titles, including the New York Times best-­‐selling Castle series, tie-­‐in cookbooks to the popular daytime show The Chew, and the forthcoming book based on the Emmy-­‐
nominated television series Shark Tank. "The addition of franchise-­‐based titles from Disney/ABC Television Group will expand our breadth of best-­‐selling content,” said Andrew Sugerman, executive vice president, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “We look forward to working with Disney/ABC to continue Disney Publishing’s proud tradition of bringing great stories to market in a variety of innovative ways.” Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, “We welcome to HBG Hyperion’s many excellent writers, whose works we are proud to publish. Hyperion’s strong non-­‐fiction list in particular is a perfect complement to HBG’s title portfolio. As Hyperion’s sales and distribution partner, we know the books and writers on the list well and look forward to taking on full publishing responsibilities. Disney Publishing Worldwide is one of HBG’s longtime distribution clients, and we are very pleased to continue our excellent relationship with DPW.” About Hachette Book Group Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second-­‐largest trade and educational publisher in the world. HBG publishes under the divisions of Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, Orbit, Hachette Nashville, and Hachette Digital. For more information visit Hachette Book Group About Disney Publishing Worldwide Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) is the world's largest publisher of children's books and magazines with over 700 million products sold each year. DPW consists of an extensive worldwide licensing structure as well as vertically integrated publishing imprints, including Disney Book Group in the U.S. and Disney Libri in Italy. DPW publishes a range of children's magazines globally, as well as Disney kids magazines in the U.S. Disney English is DPW's English language learning business, which includes Disney English learning centers in China and a worldwide retail-­‐licensing program. DPW's digital products include bestselling eBook titles as well as original apps. Headquartered in Glendale, California, DPW publishes books, magazines, and digital products in 85 countries in 75 languages. For more information visit www.disneypublishing.com. About Disney/ABC Television Group The Disney/ABC Television Group is composed of The Walt Disney Company's (NYSE: DIS) global entertainment and news television properties, owned television stations, and radio stations. This includes ABC Entertainment Group, ABC News, ABC Owned Television Stations Group, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family and SOAPnet, as well as Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Disney Media Distribution. The Company's 50% equity interest in A+E Networks rounds out the Group's portfolio of media businesses. Media Contacts: Sophie Cottrell 212-­‐364-­‐1281 Sophie.Cottrell@hbgusa.com Heather Hust Rivera 818-­‐544-­‐1970 Heather.Hust.Rivera@disney.com Christine Ragasa 212-­‐536-­‐6550 Christine.Ragasa@abc.com ###