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Google to buy Frommer’s brand from Wiley

Google has announced it will acquire Frommer’s series of travel guidebooks from current publisher John Wiley & Sons. The deal will expand Google’s investment in local hospitality reviews and ratings, reports The Wall Street Journal. (Google purchased the Zagat brand in September.)

According to Publisher’s Lunch, the sale includes “all travel assets.” The deal comes after Wiley’s March announcement that it was looking to divest various professional and trade brands “that no longer align with the company’s long-term strategies.”

From PL:

Wiley said recently that the entire collection of trade/professional assets up for sale drove approximately $80 million in annual revenues. The announcement indicates that other sales “may arise from the sale of other consumer assets,” and all proceeds “will be redeployed to support growth opportunities in Professional/Trade; Scientific, Technical, Medical, and Scholarly; and Global Education businesses.”

No word yet on whether Google will continue to publish Frommer’s as print guidebooks.