On March 7, 2012, John Wiley & Sons, announced that it intends to explore opportunities to sell a number of its consumer print and digital publishing assets in its Professional/Trade business as they no longer align with the company’s long-term business strategy. Those assets include travel (including the well-known Frommer’s brand), culinary, general interest, nautical, pets, crafts, Webster’s New World, and CliffsNotes.
On August 10, 2012, Wiley entered into a definitive agreement to sell all of its travel assets, including all of its interests in the Frommer’s brand, to Google. Proceeds from this sale, and others that may arise from the sale of other consumer assets, will be redeployed to support growth opportunities in Professional/Trade; Scientific, Technical, Medical, and Scholarly; and Global Education businesses.