Cherry Tree advises to VPG in its sale to Ingram/Vital Source

Ingram’s Vital Source expands e-textbook offering with acquisition of VPG Integrated Media

Ingram Content Group Inc. announced that Vital Source has grown its e-textbook offering with the acquisition of VPG Integrated Media (VPG), a leading developer of award-winning enhanced e-textbook applications, interactive learning objects and e-whiteboard content, and state-of-the-art video, audio, and animation production services for educational publishers.

The acquisition of VPG has expanded the ability of Vital Source to further enhance the digital learning experience. Vital Source and VPG, together, present an unmatched e-textbook offering that meets the demands of publishers, educators, and students in this new era of learning opportunities. The joining of VPG’s ability to turn a textbook into an interactive experience, Vital Source’s proven e-textbook platform and its strong relationships with publishers, institutions and students will streamline the creation and distribution of digital books globally.

“The growth of innovative digital content and the rising adoption rate of tablet devices are allowing students to truly interact with textbooks in a new way,” said Kent Freeman, President, Vital Source Technologies, Inc. “Vital Source has always been a market leader in e-textbooks. The acquisition of VPG puts us even further ahead by giving us the ability to not only deliver but to also enhance publisher content with rich media and interactive applications, a requirement for educational publishers to succeed in today’s higher-ed environment.”

VPG works with both publishers and educators to create and enhance educational content. VPG clients include Cambridge University Press, Cengage Learning, Elsevier, Houghton Mifflin, John Wiley, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Oxford University Press, Pearson Education, Sage Publications and Scholastic, many of the same publishers that currently use Ingram’s VitalSource® platform for content distribution. VPG serves both the K-12 and Higher-Ed publishing segments.

“VPG has built cutting-edge and award-winning interactive and rich-media applications that have fundamentally changed how the leaders in publishing create and enhance content,” said Chip Price, President and CEO, VPG Integrated Media. “The combination of Ingram’s leading position in the market for both physical, digital and e-textbook content distribution and VPG’s applications give the industry an unparalleled integrated solution to create, distribute and then connect feature-rich content with users.”

Ingram’s acquisition of VPG is part of the company’s growth strategy for VitalSource®, the preferred and most used e-textbook and content delivery platform in use today with 1.6 million registered users and a presence on 6000 campuses in 180 countries. Under the terms of the agreement, VPG has become part of Vital Source, Ingram Content Group’s e-textbook arm.

“At Ingram, we are fully committed to the education space and we will continue to invest in the newest print, digital, distribution and interactive technologies that will help more content reach more people globally,” said David “Skip” Prichard, President and CEO, Ingram Content Group.

ABOUT VPG INTEGRATED MEDIA
VPG is a leading developer of interactive applications and rich media products for educational publishers. VPG develops products for some of the most ambitious and successful programs in the education market, and its work affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of students each year. VPG is known in the industry for its enhanced e-Book and e-Whiteboard technologies, award-winning interactive applications, sophisticated integration with publisher technologies, and state-of-the-art video, audio, and animation production. VPG is based in Boston, where the company has an expert network of creative talent and academic advisors, as well as strong ties to a variety of trusted U.S. and off-shore production partners. For more information, visit www.vpg.com. (Cherry Tree does not maintain, endorse, or make any representations as to the content accuracy or quality of this website.)

ABOUT INGRAM
Ingram Content Group Inc. provides a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry. Ingram’s operating units are Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc., Ingram Digital, Vital Source Technologies, Inc., Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Tennessee Book Company LLC, and Coutts Information Services. For more information, visit www.ingramcontent.com. (Cherry Tree does not maintain, endorse, or make any representations as to the content accuracy or quality of this website.)