Yesterday’s news of the National Book Network‘s offer to Publishers Group West clients who have been imperiled by the Advanced Marketing Services Chapter 11 filing has, understandably, thrown quite the monkey wrench in what seemed to be an orderly (if steamrolled) handoff of client contracts to Perseus. Since sending that letter, NBN president Jed Lyons told Shelf Awareness that “we’ve been inundated with publishers. We’re furiously taking calls and making calls.” He called the offer “pretty straightforward” and thought it would be more attractive to most publishers than the offer made by Perseus. And PGW President Rich Freese – a former NBN employee – commented in a memo to publishers that “I know that NBN appreciates PGW’s close relationship with our customers and will undoubtedly maintain the high level of service and reliability that you have come to expect from PGW.”
So what’s the problem? According to Radio Free PGW – a publisher who is decidedly in NBN’s corner – PGW sent a plea to its publishers to ignore “a clearly superior offer from NBN” on the basis that time is, essentially, running out. “Given the limited time we have available, we believe that it is imperative that our publishers support the Perseus transaction and execute the Perseus agreement so as to eliminate any uncertainty as to the company’s ability to consummate a transaction,” reads yesterday’s communique. But since Perseus’s offer is merely that – an offer, and one that still hasn’t reached its 65% of publishers threshhold – a PGW publisher is very much free to consider, and accept, NBN’s terms. Especially if the February 12 court hearing is postponed, as per Rich Publishing’s recent motion.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Union Tribune reports that AMS is asking a bankruptcy court to let it pay retention bonuses of approximately $750,850 to 117 PGW employees, the money which would be paid out by potential buyer Perseus. A hearing on the request is scheduled for Feb. 28 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.