The unwinding of Osprey Publishing is complete with the announcement Monday that the company has been sold to Bloomsbury for £4.6 million in cash and stock. (Of that, £3.2 million is in cash, paid to private equity owners Alcuin Capital.) Bloomsbury says the business had sales of £7 million in 2013, over half of which comes from outside of the UK — mostly in the US — with almost no profit. Bloomsbury was considered a leading candidate to buy Osprey, mentioned along with Hachette UK in October. In June Osprey closed their Strange Chemistry Exhibit A imprints and the company was engaged […]
International News
Briefs
Following Macmillan ceo John Sargent’s indication that they will, with some reluctance, “test subscription in the coming weeks,” Oyster announced that their collection now includes over 1,000 titles published by Bloomsbury. Harper UK has disclosed their annual results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. Sales fell to £179 million, down £11 million from the prior year, while profits rebounded from terrible to just low, with pre-tax earnings of £7.2 million (still, much better than £2.8 million the year before). The company said profits were held down by £3.5 million related to their planned relocation to new offices in 2015. The Bookseller […]
People, Etc.
Founder and former ceo of Quercus Mark Smith will join Bonnier Publishing as ceo of fiction, for both adult and children’s books. His company Zaffre Publishing is being absorbed into the group, for “an undisclosed fee.” The Zaffre business will be expanded, focusing on women’s fiction, romance, historical fiction, crime, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror and fiction in translation. Smith also joins the board of Bonnier’s new US line, Little Bee. At Doubleday, Robert Bloom has been promoted to editor, reporting to Jason Kaufman. He has been at Doubleday since 2007. The World Cookbook Fair will relocate itself to become part of the Frankfurt Book Fair in […]
Sales Drop 18 Percent at Faber In “Tough” Market for UK Indies
2013 was a rough year for many UK independents, leading to the sale of Quercus to Little Brown UK, the reorganization of Atlantic Books (with Allen and Unwin taking a majority stake) and the sale of some of Osprey Publishing’s lines, to cite a few examples. Similarly, Faber and Faber has now announced results for the fiscal year ending March 2014, with sales falling 18 percent to £16.26 million and earnings swinging from more than £2 million in the previous year (when Faber had “record results”) to a small loss of £5,000. And the company says “market conditions have continued […]
People, Etc.: Durham to Leave Amazon
Publisher of adult trade and children’s at Amazon Publishing Daphne Durham will leave the company on January 16, PW reports, and will be replaced by head of global marketing for the publishing division Mikyla Bruder, who will serve as publisher for Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, Skyscape, Lake Union, 47North and Jet City Comics. (Durham had taken over Larry Kirshbaum’s responsibilities when he prepared to leave Amazon Publishing in October 2013.) Longtime Kindle singles editor David Blum will take on additional responsibilities as publisher and editor-in-chief of Little A — the literary imprint that was run by Ed Park — and Two Lions, a […]
Corporate: Mondadori to Spin Off Books Group As A Separate Company; Moody’s Has Negative Outlook On Amazon
Italy’s Arnoldo Mondadori Editore announced last week that they will spin off their book publishing and book distribution units as a separate, freestanding company effective January 1, 2015, to be called Mondadori Libri. The company says “the operation will not involve any changes to the overall profile of the underlying businesses and operating characteristics of the group.” The move is seen as opening the door to more aggressive mergers and acquisitions opportunities, from partnerships to purchases, or as the release states it, “The contribution will also facilitate the creation of a more functional corporate structure for the potential realization, with a view […]