The firm behind the Harry Potter series revealed it was their largest acquisition to date and will catapult them into becoming a leading academic publisher in North America
Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury has snapped up a US academic publisher in a deal worth a whopping $83 million (£65million).
The boss of the company has hailed the acquisition of Rowman & Littlefield as a “game-changer” that will turbocharge its expansion overseas. Bloomsbury Publishing is set to pay £76 million (£60million) in cash and up to $7million (£5 million) held in escrow.
The firm behind the Harry Potter series revealed it was their largest acquisition to date and will catapult them into becoming a leading academic publisher in North America. Rowman & Littlefield’s top authors span academic arts, humanities and social sciences and it churns out thousands of nonfiction books and textbooks, both in print and digitally.
The merged business will publish nearly 100,000 titles between them, Bloomsbury disclosed. “This acquisition is a game-changer for Bloomsbury,” declared Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury’s chief executive.
He added: “Their 40,000 academic titles added to ours will make us a significant US academic publisher, growing Bloomsbury’s academic and digital publishing presence in North America, opening new markets and publishing areas to Bloomsbury, and is a key milestone in the delivery of our long-term growth strategy.”
Bloomsbury, which also publishes cookbooks from celebrity chefs including Tom Kerridge, Gino D’Acampo and Paul Hollywood, recently unveiled its biggest ever yearly profit and sales. Bloomsbury’s profits have been boosted by the success of bestselling authors like Sarah J Maas, whose fantasy series have captivated massive readerships.
However, its academic and professional division didn’t keep pace with the consumer branch, as sales dipped in comparison to last year. Market watchers are voicing concerns that Bloomsbury might face investor jitters over the lack of a new book from “star author” Maas in the upcoming financial year.
However, AJ Bell’s investment analyst Dan Coatsworth has highlighted the latest acquisition news as evidence of Bloomsbury’s efforts to broaden its range of authors and titles. He said: “Bloomsbury has come a long way from the days when its fortunes were almost completely tied to the Harry Potter franchise and today’s acquisition of a US academic publisher accelerates the company’s diversification strategy.”
Wednesday morning saw Bloomsbury’s shares increase by 2%
