Subscription audiobook and ebook streaming service Storytel has acquired Norstedts, Sweden’s oldest publisher, for SEK 152 million (or 16.3 million euros.) Nordstedts has been owned by co-operative union and retail group KF since 1997; the 11-year-old Storytel adds Nordstedts to its expanding roster, having acquired Swedish publishers Massolit and B Wahlströms in 2015 and Danish ebook and audio streaming service Mofibo last month. Storytel, as part of the deal, also acquires Rabén & Sjögren, which has been owned by KF since 1947, as well as Norstedts’ wholly owned subsidiaries Böckernas Klubb, Norstedts Kartor, Kartcentrum i Stockholm, and Gammafon Barnmedia. Storytel also […]
Finance
Penguin Random House Sells Fodor’s to Internet Brands
Penguin Random House will sell Fodor’s Travel to Internet Brands, a Los Angeles-based online media and technology company that owns FlyerTalk.com and Wikitravel.org. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and deal is expected to close shortly. Fodor’s will become part of Internet Brands’ consumer Home/Travel group, though PRH, which acquired the 80-year-old company in 1986, will continue to sell and distribute Fodor’s print guides to the book trade on behalf of Internet Brands. As Fodor’s was integrated into a division containing PRH Audio and Living Language, publisher Amanda D’Acierno and publicity director Katie Punia “very much continue with us”, according […]
Hachette UK Acquires Neon Play
Hachette UK announced they have acquired Neon Play, a British-based mobile games development company. Co-owners Oli Christie, Mark Allen and their team will continue to be based in Cirencester running Neon Play as a stand-alone business under the Hachette UK umbrella, reporting to Richard Kitson. Hachette UK ceo Tim Hely Hutchinson and executives Kitson and Pierre de Cacqueray will join the board of Neon Play. Terms of the deal were undisclosed but Hutchinson told the Bookseller it was a “substantial acquisition designed to lead to substantial revenues”, and was also a “serious first step” for Hachette in a bid to […]
Bookselling: Sales and Comps Decline Again at WHSmith; Sweet Reads Sells Books & Candy; and More
WH Smith reported results for the quarter ending June 4, with high street store sales down 4 percent and comps declining 3 percent compared to the same period last year. (In the European tradition, the quarterly report is provided as a brief “trading update” with no actual figures; those come only twice a year.) The company said they “continue with our profit focused strategy with sales in the period in line with expectations.” Release Sweet Reads, a new store that sells both books and candy, has opened in Austin, MN. Owners John and Lisa Deyo conceived of the concept over the course […]
Burgess Lea Moves to Quarto
Running Press co-founder Buz Teacher his wife Janet Bukovinsky Teacher have sold the assets of their year-old cooking publisher Burgess Lea Press to Quarto Publishing Group USA. The Teachers will “continue to work with the imprint,” though editorial and production operations will be run out of Quarto’s Minneapolis, MN, office. The Burgess Lea site lists 5 titles in print; it has operated as an affiliate imprint of Running Press (which is now owned by Hachette Book Group as part of the Perseus Books Group acquisition). Quarto has promised to sustain Burgess Lea’s model of donating all after-tax publishing profits to charitable organizations good works that address hunger […]
Macmillan Acquires Pronoun (FKA As Vook, Plus Booklr and Byliner)
Macmillan announced on Thursday that they have acquired Pronoun, the pivoted version of the company that began life as Vook (originally creating ebooks with embedded videos) in 2009 and over the years incorporated Booklr and Byliner. In its latest incarnation, Pronoun’s focus has been an ebook distribution platform for authors that has said they charge no conversion, posting or distribution fees. Current pronoun ceo Josh Brody, who came to the company with their Booklr acquisition in 2014, will serve as president of Pronoun at Macmillan, and chief product officer Ben Zhuk will be vp, product for Macmillan. Macmillan coo Andrew Weber says in the announcement, “We’ve been impressed […]