- Extraordinary acquisition is a ‘game changer’ for Bloomsbury, says boss
Shares in Bloomsbury Publishing rose on Wednesday after the group revealed its biggest acquisition to date.
The London-listed independent publisher behind the Harry Potter series has acquired the academic publishing business of US group Rowman & Littlefield for £65m.
Bloomsbury boss Nigel Newton hailed the deal as a “game changer” for the publisher, which once completed will publish around 97,000 titles worldwide.
Bloomsbury Shares rose 2.33 per cent or 13 pence to 571 pence on Wednesday morning, having risen almost 40 per cent in the last year.
Extraordinary acquisition: Bloomsbury Publishing has achieved its largest acquisition to date
Bloomsbury said it will pay £60 million upfront in cash, with an additional £5 million in escrow.
The deal does not include Rowman & Littlefield’s trade publishing or other non-academic units.
Rowman & Littlefield, founded in 1949, publishes more than 40,000 academic titles. The deal will enhance Bloomsbury’s portfolio, expanding its reach across the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Bloomsbury seeks to strengthen its academic branch by focusing on digital resources and expanding subject areas such as business and psychology.
The acquisition is expected to significantly boost Bloomsbury’s profits by 2025/26.
It will be funded from the publisher’s cash reserves and a £30m loan from Lloyds Bank. The transaction does not require shareholder approval.
Newton said: ‘Rowman & Littlefield is one of the few independent US academic publishers of such scale and it is fantastic that our conversations with Jed Lyons have led to this acquisition.
“Its 40,000 academic titles added to ours will make us a major academic publisher in the US, increasing Bloomsbury’s academic and digital publishing presence in North America, opening up new markets and publishing areas for Bloomsbury, and is a key milestone in delivering our long-term objectives.” growth strategy.
“Following the exceptional performance of our Consumer division in our recently announced Preliminary Results, the acquisition accelerates our Non-Consumer division, underscoring our portfolio portfolio strategy.”
Bloomsbury shares sank last week after President Richard Lambert announced his retirement. after seven years in office.
Lambert, 79, a journalist and former chairman of the British Museum, will be succeeded by John Bason, currently an independent non-executive director on Bloomsbury’s board.
Bloomsbury said results for the 2025 financial year would be slightly above expectations, with revenue of £283.6 million and pre-tax profit of around £35.4 million.
For the year ending February 29, the group posted a pre-tax profit before exceptional items of £48.7m on revenue of £342.7m, boosted by strong demand for fantasy fiction titles , particularly from author Sarah J. Maas.