McClelland & Stewart, the largest name in Canadian Publishing, is now a wholly owned company of Random House of Canada. The University of Toronto previously held 75 percent ownership of the century-old publishing house.According to a press release by Random House Canada:
In recent years, the challenges facing publishers, including a difficult economy and digital-driven transitions facing the industry, have put significant pressure on M&S, and it has been experiencing financial challenges. Brad Martin observes, “We believe with McClelland & Stewart fully within the Random House of Canada family we will more effectively be able to meet these challenges to ensure the growth and long-term stability of this iconic Canadian publisher.”
In 2000, Chairman and sole owner of M&S Avie Bennett donated the majority share (75 percent) to the University of Toronto while selling the remaining 25 percent to Random House of Canada.
“Random House of Canada has been a wonderful partner for McClelland & Stewart for the past eleven years,” said Avie Bennett. “The commitments they have made to upholding the tradition of M&S and the ongoing focus on Canadian publishing assures me that M&S is in good hands.”
McClelland & Goodchild was founded in 1906 by John McClelland and Frederick Goodchild. They were joined by George Stewart in 1913. Goodchild left the partnership in 1918 and it has been known as McClelland & Stewart since. Jack McClelland, John’s son, joined the company in 1946 and steered the company towards publishing more Canadian content. After going through some trying times in the 1970s, the company was purchased by Avie Bennett in 1986. It has represented major Canadian literary authors such as Margret Atwood, Stephen Leacock, Michael Ondaatje and Farley Mowat.
Random House is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, a multi-national media corporation and one of the world’s largest publishing firms.
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