Blackwell purchases BMJ Books from British Medical Association.

Blackwell Publishing (Malden, MA/ Oxford, UK) has completed the purchase of BMJ Books, the book publishing arm of BMJ Publishing, from the British Medical Association (BMJ; London). No terms were given. BMJ Publishing Group was represented in the deal by The van Tulleken Co. (New York).

The acquired assets include 328 book titles in such specialties as pediatrics, accident and emergency medicine, anesthesia and intensive care, and cardiology, including the "ABC Series" reference books for researchers, clinicians and health professionals, and a developing list of evidence-based textbooks.

BMJ Publishing Group president Richard Smith said the decision to sell "has not been easy to make, but it is no longer feasible for us to continue an extensive book publishing business ... our cost structure has meant that we could not produce the return on the business that we had hoped for." The sale follows a strategic review by BMJ Publishing Group to focus on core activities of Journal publishing, including Clinical Evidence, British Medical Journal and over 20 other specialist journals, and developing educational materials for doctors.

Titles from BMJ will carry the imprints of both BMJ and Blackwell as part of the sale agreement. Among the over 700 Journals and 600 texts and references produced each year by Blackwell Publishing, the company produces over 100 books and 350 Journals in the medical, biomedical and allied health fields.