Bertelsmann AG finally unloaded its US mail-order CD, DVD and books business, Direct Group North America, to Najafi Companies, an Arizona investment group. Terms were not disclosed, but Bertelsmann was hoping the unit would fetch about $400 million. The deal is expected to close in Q3.
The US arm of Direct Group, which includes Book-of-the-Month Club and Columbia House, has struggled for years. But moving physical media by mail isn't a dead business anywhere else in the world: Direct Group generated 13% of Bertelsmann's total revenue in 2007.
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