SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 28, 2006. Deseret Book officials announced today the acquisition of Covenant Communications and its sister company Seagull Book, a retail book chain comprised of 26 stores. Discussions which culminated in this transaction were initiated this past summer by Lew Kofford, who is the founder of both entities.

?Apparently Mr. Kofford had been looking for a transition for some time,? said Sheri Dew, president and CEO of Deseret Book Company. ?After lengthy analysis and discussions spanning many months, we reached the conclusion that this acquisition could benefit both Seagull and Deseret Book customers, as well as authors working with both Covenant Communications and Deseret Book Publishing.?

The Deseret Book and Seagull Book brands will continue to operate independently. ?Seagull Book is a great discount book retailer,? said Dew. ?This acquisition comes on the heels of two banner years for Deseret Book. We feel that Deseret Book as a full-service book retailer and Seagull as a well-established discount book retailer, not only both enjoy tremendous brand loyalty, but between them service the LDS market well. Our strategy is to continue to build both brands.?

?This is the perfect transition for Covenant and Seagull,? said Mr. Kofford. ?Deseret Book was an ideal choice to make this acquisition, and I fully expect the companies to complement each other going forward.?

Because Covenant Communications, a well-respected publisher of LDS products, and Deseret Book?s publishing division, are both very successful and enjoy unique strengths, they will not be merged but will continue to operate separately. All existing relationships with the authors of both companies will remain intact.

Similarly, there are no plans to close any Seagull or Deseret Book stores, and with the exception of Mr. Kofford, all of the current management team at Seagull and Covenant will remain in place. Likewise, this acquisition will not affect the employment of any Deseret Book employees.
In other words, it will be business as usual for Seagull, Covenant, and Deseret Book.

Established in Salt Lake City in 1866, Deseret Book is Utah?s oldest book company, with five divisions: retail, publishing, wholesale, events, and direct-to-customer. The retail division operates 43 stores in several states in the western United States, including Mormon Handicraft, which is a Salt Lake City consignment shop for handmade goods.

Based and remaining in American Fork, Utah, Covenant Communications is one of the largest publishers of LDS-themed inspirational fiction, games, teaching aids, gift books, and nonfiction. Seagull Book is an LDS-oriented discount book chain with some 26 stores throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona and California.

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I know it probably isn't legally a monopoly, but it sure feels like one.

But despite what the law says, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ....

One LDS publisher apparently thinks that might happen, JB Howick of Windriver commented on Motley Vision that "Deseret Book is an anti-trust lawsuit waiting to happen."

And on the Mormon Stories podcast, there is now a call for an organization of independent LDS publishers to try and meet the needs of the LDS market.