Though the news broke a few months back, yesterday HarperCollins made the news official: they will be distributing books published by Hyperion Books and Disney Book Group, taking over from the former Time Warner Book Group (now, of course, Hachette Book Group.) All back office functions including customer service, warehousing, billing and credit will be performed by HarperCollins. The company has hired Mary Beth Thomas, VP, Director of Client Services, to oversee the day-to-day relationship for Hyperion and Disney Book Group.

"We feel that Hyperion and Disney Book Group are an excellent fit with HarperCollins," said Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. "This distribution agreement between two leading publishing companies furthers our current growth strategy. Bob Miller [President of Hyperion] and Jeanne Mosure [Senior Vice President, Disney Publishing Worldwide] are two outstanding professionals who have built admirable publishing organizations."