Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Year in 2007 by Publishers Weekly magazine for its role in taking on publishers formerly distributed by Publishers Group West and acquiring Avalon Publishing Group. After the death of Frank Pearl, Perseus was sold to Centre Lane Partners in 2015, a private equity firm. In April 2016, its name and publishing business was acquired by Hachette Book Group and its distribution business by Ingram Content Group.