Proposed sale of Bloomsbury Verlag GmbH

RNS Number : 3535Y

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

29 February 2012

 



Bloomsbury Publishing ("Bloomsbury")

Proposed sale of Bloomsbury Verlag GmbH and

Strategic publishing partnership in Germany with Piper Verlag

Bloomsbury Publishing today announces the sale of its German subsidiary Bloomsbury Verlag GmbH to a subsidiary of Bonnier AB and a strategic publishing partnership in Germany with Piper Verlag ("Piper"), a company in the Bonnier AB Group.  

The consideration will be €2.6 million in cash for the entire share capital of the business.  In addition the purchaser will pay Bloomsbury €800,000 for the German language rights in publications from the Bloomsbury trade divisions and a further €1 million for the use of the Bloomsbury Berlin and associated brands.  Both of these contracts, payable upfront, are over a three year period and renewable at Bloomsbury's option.

The sale will complete in the next few weeks, subject to regulatory approval by the Federal Cartel Office in Germany. Bloomsbury intends to retain the proceeds for future investment in its business.

Following the transaction, Bloomsbury Berlin will continue to bring authors to the German market from Bloomsbury Publishing's international stable of authors which includes Khaled Hosseini, William Boyd and Ben Schott. 

For the 14 months ended 28 February 2011, Bloomsbury Verlag reported revenue of £10.1 million and a loss before tax of £0.6 million, before highlighted costs of £1.7 million. As at 28 February 2011 Bloomsbury Verlag had gross assets of £8.1 million.

This move follows the creation of a new subsidiary in India, which is in line with the One Global Bloomsbury strategy of focusing on publishing books in the English language.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, commented:

"The future of Bloomsbury in Germany is now strengthened through this new strategic partnership with Piper, one of Germany's leading literary publishers. We look forward to our cooperation with them as we bring some of the most successful international authors commissioned by our editors in London, New York, and Delhi to the German market."

For further information, please contact:

Daniel de Belder/Rosanne Perry, Pelham Bell Pottinger	[phone]

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc- Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house with companies in London, New York and Sydney. Its founder and Chief Executive is Nigel Newton.  Its four divisions are:

Bloomsbury Academic & Professional Publishing - Bloomsbury Academic & Professional specialises in the humanities, social sciences, law and tax.  In 2011 and 2012, it will be publishing online the digitized edition of the Winston Churchill Archive, as well as new digital services in Irish Law and Tax, UK Tax and Drama Online (with Faber). The division includes Continuum, Berg Publishers, Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare, Bristol Classical Press and Bloomsbury Professional.

Bloomsbury Information- includes a number of information databases for electronic as well as print publications. Publications include The Encarta World English Dictionary, The English Language Teaching Database, The Macmillan English Dictionary, Business: The Ultimate Resource, and others. Bloomsbury also provides management services for Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, a division of the Qatar Foundation.

Bloomsbury Adult Publishing- a substantial list of successful authors including Khaled Hosseini, William Boyd, Margaret Atwood, Donna Tartt, Elizabeth Gilbert, Richard Ford, David Guterson, John Irving, Jay McInerney, Ben Schott, Anthony Bourdain, William Dalrymple, Ben Macintyre, Dava Sobel, Mark Kurlansky, Chelsea Handler, Heston Blumenthal, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and recent Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. The division also features significant reference projects including Wisden, Who's Who, Reed's Nautical and Whitaker's.

Bloomsbury Children's Publishing- a highly successful list including authors such as J.K.Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Debi Gliori, Alyxandra Harvey, Carrie Jones, Shannon Hale, Louis Sachar and Benjamin Zephaniah.

 

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