Random House Canada has become the sole owner of trade publishing house McClelland & Stewart, acquiring the 75% of the business it did not already own from the University of Toronto. RHC will maintain the publishing programme of M&S, including the McClelland & Stewart imprint and the New Canadian Library, Emblem Editions, and Signal imprints. RHC has plans to establish The McClelland & Stewart Lecture, to be held annually at the University of Toronto, focusing on the advancement of writers and their ideas. President and publisher of M&S Doug Pepper will continue in his role, reporting to RHC c.e.o. Brad Martin, becoming a member of the executive committee of RHC. Executive vice-president and publisher, fiction of M&S Ellen Seligman will also continue in her role. Chairman and former sole owner of M&S Avie Bennett donated 75% of the business to the University of Toronto in 2000, selling 25% to RHC at that time. Martin said: "Avie Bennett's devotion to McClelland & Stewart has been a gift to Canadian authors and readers. His contributions to Canadian publishing and to our literary heritage are unparalleled . . . "McClelland & Stewart is one of the world's great publishers, and we are committed to making it even greater." M&S publishes authors including Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen and Michael Ondaatje. Source:The Bookseller