G.-Jürgen Hogrefe, left, and Hugo Setzer. Image: Hogrefe Publishing Group
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Setzer: ‘A Long-Standing Friendship’
A big favorite in the recent march of International Publishers Association (IPA) presidents, Hugo Setzer is announcing one of the defining moves he’s making as he adjusts his full-time focus on book publishing and the world industry.
Setzer today (April 2) is announcing the acquisition of the Mexican publishing company Editorial Manual Moderno, the Hogrefe Publishing Group having now become the market leader in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, and psychodiagnostics in Mexico.
Formerly Setzer’s base, Manual Moderno is the leading specialist publisher in Latin America in these core areas of Hogrefe and, like Hogrefe, also covers further areas in medicine and nursing. Vesalius is the long-time distributor of Hogrefe publications in Mexico.
Anyone who knows Setzer—this man who led the Mexican publishers, CANIEM, to their production of the IPA’s 34th International Publishers Congress at Guadalajara in December and toward the creation of a new SDG Book Club for Mexico—knows that this is not the guy to sit down now and take his ease.
Setzer is to remain the managing director under the new ownership of Hogrefe.
In a prepared statement, he says, “In our search for a forward-looking succession for our publishing company, Hogrefe was clearly the best option for us. Hogrefe and Manual Moderno share many similarities, not least the values and corporate culture typical of family businesses.
“I have had a long-standing friendship with Jürgen Hogrefe himself, and there is a great deal of mutual trust. As part of the internationally active Hogrefe Group, we see many synergies and development opportunities, to the benefit of our authors and customers in Mexico and Latin America.”
Hogrefe: ‘The Responsibility Entrusted to Us’
In publications of Hogrefe’s Spanish publishing house—Hogrefe TEA Ediciones—Mexico had already become the most important market outside of Spain.
The Hogrefe TEA Ediciones program, which is also a market leader in the publication of psychological tools in Spain, has been successfully distributed in Mexico by the company Vesalius for more than 20 years. Earlier this year, Hogrefe took its first step into Mexico by acquiring the distribution company Vesalius.
In a comment today, Hogrefe, the publisher and CEO of the Hogrefe Publishing Group, says, “Until now, our Spanish publishing activities were very focused on Spain itself.
“However, we wanted to better meet the needs of the psychological communities in Latin America, especially regarding local publications, adaptations, and norms for psychological tests.
“With the acquisition of Manual Moderno, we now have the best foundation for this work in the two largest Spanish-speaking countries in the world, Mexico and Colombia.
“We’re aware of the responsibility entrusted to us by continuing the valuable work of Manual Moderno and Vesalius under the roof of the Hogrefe Group, and we do not only want to live up to this responsibility but also aim to build new bridges of collaboration between Latin America and Europe.”
With Manual Moderno and Vesalius combined, Hogrefe now employs 120 people in Mexico, including a large number of psychologists involved in program development, consulting, and sales, across three locations: Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. Hogrefe has also taken over the Manual Moderno subsidiary in Colombia, with an additional 15 employees.
Hogrefe was founded in 1950. Manuel Moderno was established in 1958.
More from Publishing Perspectives on mergers and acquisitions is here, more on the work of Hugo Setzer is here, more on the book industry in Mexico is here, and more on the book business of Spain is here.