By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Restivo-Alessi: ‘A Key Market in Our International Portfolio’
In an announcement made today (January 7) from Amsterdam, HarperCollins Holland reports its agreement to acquire the lifestyle imprints Altamira, Becht, Dominicus, and Hollandia—along with associated personnel—from publisher Gottmer Uitgevers Groep in Haarlem.
The acquisition, according to HarperCollins will further expand what it sees as a “fast-growing position in the trade book market in the Netherlands and Belgium.”
The four imprints, uitgeverijen, have more than 125 combined years of publishing history.
“They hold leading positions in their respective markets,” today’s media messaging says, “with successful bestselling authors, a strong content pool, and exceptional brand awareness. As part of the deal, Vaarbewijs Academy, a boating license training platform, will also join the HarperCollins Holland portfolio.
The addition of these four lifestyle imprints, HarperCollins says, will expand the HarperCollins Holland nonfiction portfolio to include categories such as cooking, healthy eating, spirituality, travel, and watersports.
Jan-Joris Keijzer
Jan-Joris Keijzer, HarperCollins Holland’s managing director, says, “The lifestyle imprints Altamira, Becht, Dominicus, and Hollandia have an impressive publishing history, exceptional authors, and great books, and have become strong brands in their own right, trusted by generations of readers.
“We’re proud to welcome these brands and their fantastic supporting team members under the umbrella of the HarperCollins publishing group and look forward to shaping the future of the publishing house together.”
Chantal Restivo-Alessi
Chantal Restivo-Alessi, HarperCollins’ chief digital officer and international foreign language CEO, also is quoted, saying: “Holland is a key market in our international portfolio and one in which we see great growth opportunities.
“This acquisition will allow us to increase our market share and position us for continued growth in the market.”
Following its divestment of these properties Gottmer is expected to focus entirely on the children’s book market.
And Marius van Campen, the business director of Gottmer Uitgevers Groep, is quoted, saying, “In HarperCollins we’ve found a party that can allow the lifestyle imprints and employees to flourish further.
“For our own organization, this step means that we will focus on the titles and characters of Gottmer children’s books and [imprint] Big Balloon. In that respect, we have a clear ambition to further increase reading pleasure among young people.”
Overall, HarperCollins, of course, is one of the most internationalized of the Big Five publishers, with operations in 15 nations and an annual output of some 10,000 books in 16 languages.
HarperCollins Holland publishers roughly 100 new trade books and 150 new Pocket Series titles annually under its imprints HarperCollins, HarperFirst, and Harlequin.
HarperCollins Holland is based in Amsterdam and currently employs more than 35 people.
The Gottmer Group is one of the Netherlands’ leading children’s book publishers, publishing characters and series Dikkie Dik, Boer Boris, Rupsje Nooitgenoeg and De Grijze Jager, as well as popular licenses Bluey, Peppa Pig, and Paw Patrol.
More from Publishing Perspectives on mergers and acquisitions is here, more on international publishing is here, and more on the Netherlands’ market is here.