Forbes reports that Bertelsmann - the parent company of Random House - announced that its book club division, Direct Group is buying Portugal's largest book store chain Bertrand Livreiros (which employs 400 people working in 48 outlets) for a reported 20-30 million Euros. Bertelsmann's book club has annual sales of 2.4 billion euros and employs around 13,000 people.

Chief executive Gunter Thielen said of the troubled Direct Group that he expects it to leave the 'loss-zone' this year, in both Germany and Great Britain.