Andrew AlbaneseThat faint odor in the air for the book business is the scent of consolidation. This week, the wind of change blew in for Perseus Books Group, and then it blew out as Hachette Livre.

In recent weeks, Hachette has appeared regularly in trade news headlines, mostly for its spat with Amazon. But on Tuesday, the owner of Little, Brown, Grand Central and numerous other US imprints made news with its complex acquisition of Perseus.

“With annual sales of about $100 million, the addition of the Perseus catalog will boost HBG annual revenue to over $700 million—making it still the smallest of the big five publishers,” Andrew AlbanesePublishers Weekly senior writer, tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “As we’ve reported for months in PW, though, American market growth is part of the French media conglomerate’s global business strategy. Certainly, this acquisition helps them, especially on the nonfiction side.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.

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