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JEGI CLARITY Represents Times Publishing Company In Sale Of CQ Press To Sage

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  • B2B Information and Events
  • Marketing Services and Technology

CQ Press (www.cqpress.com), the book-publishing unit of Washington-based Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ) (www.cq.com), has been sold to SAGE (www.sagepublications.com), the leading independent academic publisher. The sale was announced jointly by Robert W. Merry, CQ’s president and editor-in-chief, and Blaise Simqu, SAGE’s president and CEO.

JEGI CLARITY (www.jegiclarity.com), the leading provider of independent investment banking services for the media and information industries, represented Times Publishing Company in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor.

CQ’s corporate parent, Times Publishing Company (www.sptimes.com) of St. Petersburg, Florida, divested CQ Press in order to direct investment resources to other opportunities, notably the core CQ publishing business and the company’s award-winning newspaper, The St. Petersburg Times.

CQ Press serves the library, college and professional markets with a diverse array of print and online products. It publishes approximately 100 new titles each year, with a growing and authoritative list of textbooks and reference titles focusing on political science, mass communication, and related disciplines.

SAGE plans to keep CQ Press intact as a separate division based in Washington DC, bearing the CQ Press imprint, and retaining all CQ Press employees under the senior management team that will remain in place, including Publisher John A. Jenkins, who will also carry the title of President of CQ Press.

“We’re very pleased CQ Press is joining the global SAGE family,” said Mr. Simqu. “CQ Press and SAGE enjoy a shared mission and similar values. Both are driven by a passion for scholarship and innovation that impacts education and public policy. John Jenkins and the rest of the CQ Press executive team have created an impressive publishing enterprise that will further enhance SAGE’s presence in the marketplace.”

SAGE, founded in 1965 as a publisher of academic journals, has expanded into a global education publisher of books, journals and electronic products. In four locations around the world, SAGE publishes more than 500 journals and 700 books a year, encompassing 40 disciplines within the academic and scholarly arena.

“I couldn’t be more delighted with this outcome,” said Mr. Merry. “Everyone in our company felt SAGE was ideally positioned to take this fine enterprise to new heights, while preserving its culture and stability.” He added he was particularly impressed with SAGE’s commitment to editorial excellence and business integrity, two qualities highly prized at CQ and the Times Publishing Co.

The sale of CQ Press was an impressive piece of work on the part of JEGI CLARITY, and I suspect nobody who knows of the firm’s professional talents would be surprised at a successful transaction outcome. I feel we were most fortunate to have JEGI CLARITY on our side in this effort, both as to those professional talents that proved so beneficial and as to the enjoyment generated by the experience of working with the firm. So thanks, Wilma, Mike, and the rest of the JEGI CLARITY team. It was indeed a pleasure.

Robert W. Merry, President, Congressional Quarterly

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