Following the announcement in November that all divisions of IBS-STL UK (Biblica) were up for sale, results of the sales process have been emerging over the last 24 hours. Although most of this has not been officially confirmed by Biblica, information has been leaked on various sites by employees of the company. The most accurate information available now is that:
A sale of Authentic publishing to Australian company Koorong was agreed at 9pm on Friday night. However this is only for the book publishing division. Other sources suggest that the music side of the business has been bought by Kingsway, although this is not yet confirmed.
Wesley Owen bookshops has been split up. Six stores have been purchased by Christain Literature Crusade, a similar number may have been purchased by Koorong. It seems that most of the rest will be closing. Edinburgh Wesley Owen’s Facebook page states that it will be closing ’shortly’.
STL Distribution has been purchased by Scottish book wholesaler John Ritchie. However, it isn’t clear how much of the business they will retain, or which employees will be transferred.
It is expected that a full statement will be issued on Monday morning, and no official comment was available from Biblica.
See also Christian Bookshop Blog and Church Times Blog
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It’s a sad day for the advancement of the Christian Faith in the UK – and a particularly difficult day for those friends who now know they’ll have to find a new job in the new year.
I am sorry about the employees of STL who will suffer through this. I find it difficult to sympathise with the leaders and directors of STL. Over the past 10 years their desire to dominate the UK CBC trade has demonstrated a distinct lack of Christian charity. In fact it seemed at times that they were motivated by little more than greed and avarice.