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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Bonnier Corp To Expand Magazine Brands into Book Publishing

Who said all publishers are just surviving at best. Bonnier Corp has gone on offense!

This Swedish publishing company has been doing just the opposite of most publishers these days and has been on a buying rampage goobling up many magazine empires and now a book publishing firm as well!

Folio Magazine's Jason Fell reported on 12 Dec 2009:
Bonnier Corp. has taken another step in its aggressive acquisition plan, only this time not in magazine publishing. The Swedish-owned company said Wednesday that it has acquired Weldon Owen Publishing and will create a book division to manage it.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Weldon Owen, however, has annual revenues of approximately $20 million.

Bonnier said adding Weldon Owen will allow the company to expand its existing magazine brands and content into book publishing projects. The company said it is considering bookazines, collectible yearbooks and other book products for sale on newsstands and online.

Founded in 1984 in Sydney, Australia, Weldon Owen Publishing develops and publishes illustrated reference, lifestyle and education books and has worked with several specialty retailer clients including Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn. It formerly was part of Bonnier Publishing in the U.K.

Bonnier also said it has redesigned its corporate logo as part of a branding effort to align all of the Bonnier company’s worldwide with a similar look.

Bonnier has been on a buying spree over the last 15 months. Most recently, it bought Conceive magazine from its founder and a group of investors. Most notably, Bonnier acquired American Photo, Boating, Flying, Popular Photography and Sound & Vision magazines from Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in June.

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