Anderson News may be forced into bankruptcy by publishers

Publishers Lunch points to this Reuters report that Anderson News's creditors Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Random House, and Simon & Schuster have filed papers in US bankruptcy court to attempt to force the distributor into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. US law permits creditors "to begin an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding to force a debtor to confront the debts they are owed."

Publishers Lunch reports that "HBG claims they are owed approximately $6.8 million; Harper $5.9 million; S&S $11.9 million; and Random House $12.9 million."

The case is Re: Anderson News, LLC, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-10695.

Anderson is one of two major magazine distributors that recently caused great upheaval in the industry by trying to charge publishers additional fees on magazines. For more on the story, see "Magazine distribution woes as major distributor goes under" and "Anderson News is closing; Source Interlink sues to stay alive".

[Edited 4 March 2009: Publishers Weekly has a little more information on the case, including several smaller lawsuits, in this article.]