Bertelsmann to Buy French Book Club

German media giant Bertelsmann is preparing to acquire a book club in France, the head of Bertelsmann's Direct Group, which combines its music and book club activities, told the Financial Times Deutschland in its Tuesday edition. "We are working on acquiring another book club in France," Edwald Walgenbach told the newspaper, without revealing any further details. FTD quoted company sources as saying that negotiations were fairly well advanced. Bertelsmann, the world's fifth largest media company, already acquired another French book chain, Privat, in April. "We must continue to grow," Walgenbach said. After making a loss in 2002, Direct Group managed to return to profit last year thanks to stringent cost-cutting.