Wer rätselt, was der heute früh gemeldete „beabsichtigte“ Deal [mehr…] gekostet hat – und was es sonst noch an Hintergrund (Stand heute – das Kartellamt muss ja noch zustimmen) gibt: Das hat Bloomsbury heute an seine Aktionäre geschrieben:
„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.“
