Bonnier Publishing acquires Igloo Books

Published October 31, 2014. By Charlotte Eyre - The Bookseller

• 
  

Bonnier Publishing has acquired Igloo Books, saying the acquisition makes the publisher a "dominant force" in children's mass market publishing.
The acquisition will add £30m in annual sales to Bonnier's current turnover of £55m, putting the company on firm footing to achieve its £100m turnover goal by 2016. The sum paid for Igloo Books has not been disclosed.

Richard Johnson, c.e.o. of Bonnier Publishing, said: “Earlier this summer I set out the goal of doubling our annual turnover. My aim was to do this by means of both organic growth and acquisition. Igloo Books stood out immediately as a company we could do business with. It shares many of the same cultural and commercial values as Bonnier and is as ambitious and focused on achieving fast growth as we are.”

The acquisition takes place with immediate effect and there will be no redundancies. John Styring will retain his role as c.e.o. of Igloo Books and all his 120 staff members will continue to be based at their Northamptonshire offices.
Bonnier said the deal will create an £85m group and make it one of the five largest children’s publishers in the UK, as well as the “dominant force” in children’s mass market publishing.

Styring said he didn’t have any plans to sell the business before he was approached by Bonnier. “We were approached by Richard Johnson… who proposed a mix of companies that would be of mutual benefit and would enable us to become an even bigger player in the industry, while allowing us to keep hold of our unique business culture and brand identity,” he said. “Having the global infrastructure, clout and support of a company with Bonnier Publishing’s track record is a real added advantage and will certainly fast-track our growth.”

Igloo Books has annual turnover of £30m and is the master UK publisher for DreamWorks.
Last month, Johnson said his company had undertaken a large "research operation" over the last few months to look around the UK market for acquisitions to achieve its £100m turnover goal by 2016, and was also looking to expand into adult fiction.
At the time, he said: "The problem with the book industry is it is so traditional. People are scared to run it as a business and make a profit. In our group we love all that."