Augsburg Fortress Canada sold
to David C Cook Distribution Canada
Augsburg Fortress, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, is pleased to announce the sale of their Canadian distribution division, to David C Cook Distribution Canada.
Beth Lewis, President and CEO of Augsburg Fortress said, “As both the Church and the world of publishing change, we must change as well. Several months ago, we made the difficult decision to sell AF Canada allowing us to focus our limited human and financial resources on the creation of high quality and innovative faith formation, worship, teaching and learning tools for Lutheran and other Christians in both Canada and the USA.”
Following that decision, Augsburg Fortress searched for potential buyers that would be able to maintain the high level of service that Augsburg Fortress Canada had provided to the trade and church partners in Canada.
“We are pleased to announce the sale of AF Canada to the two senior leaders of an experienced Christian book, curricula, card & gift plus music and media distributor, David C Cook Distribution Canada (DCCDC). Greg Tombs and Hardy Willms are not only acquiring AF Canada, but have just recently acquired DCCDC and will merge them into the largest Protestant church resource distribution firm in Canada. We are delighted that our church partners and trade customers will be served by this new but experienced Canadian firm,” stated Lewis.
Greg Tombs and Hardy Willms acquired David C Cook Distribution Canada yesterday, February 29th. Tombs said, “Acquiring Augsburg Fortress Canada and merging it into our David C Cook Distribution Canada operations in Paris, Ontario is a perfect fit for our mission and strategy of providing excellent service to the trade, church and general markets in Canada with Christian resources. We are also welcoming some of the Augsburg Fortress Canada staff to our current Cook Canada staff as we continue to serve the customer and supplier base Augsburg Fortress Canada served so well. We at David C Cook Distribution Canada are very excited to now offer products from Abingdon Press, Abbey Press, Penguin Random House (Waterbrook Multnomah), and Westminster John Knox Press in addition to the Augsburg Fortress line up of resources as a result of acquiring the lines that Augsburg Fortress Canada represented. Furthermore, we are looking forward serving our new Canadian church partners, namely the Anglican Church of Canada, the United Church of Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.”
The transition of product and personnel will take place this week and David C Cook Distribution Canada expects minimal interruption of service as the transition takes place. For the forseeable future, Augsburg Fortress Canada customers may continue to use the afcanada.org website and toll free number they have used for many years.