Bertelsmann's purchase of Time Inc’s 50% stake in Bookspan, could spell trouble for many at the book marketing firm

-SHOMARI First Time Inc sold off their book publishing unit, now they sold their 50% stake in BookSpan to Bertelsmann turning 101% of their focus on the magazines and the Internet. Its funny though, we were under the impression that this deal was done about a year ago? So what does all this mean for Bookspan, it's employees and even the Bookspan brand? Will Bertelsmann (Bertie) keep the name, or do away with it like they did Bookspan CEO Markus Wilhelm? Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Bertelsmann's DirectGroup -- which runs the group's book, music and DVD clubs -- would pay about $150 million, citing people familiar with the matter. Bookspan will be integrated into BMG Columbia House, a unit of DirectGroup that markets music and DVDs direct to North American consumers, and will be run by BMG Columbia House Chief Executive Stuart Goldfarb. company memo seen earlier by Reuters and written by Bookspan CEO Markus Wilhelm said Wilhelm was resigning to cut down on travel and spend time with his family. Could a major shake up at the Long Island offices of Bookspan be on the horizon? Update those resumes just in case BookSpanners. Bertelsmann buys rest of Bookspan from Time Inc [Reuters]