In a move to strengthen its international sales, London-based Laurence King Publishing (LKP) has created a new German subsidiary, Laurence King Verlag, and acquired Amsterdam-based publisher BIS.
The new subsidiary is based in Berlin and will publish 30 titles from LKP’s list in German each year. The remainder of LKP’s English list will be sold in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. LKP has appointed Max Erbe, previously of Ullman and Phaidon in Germany, as managing director of Laurence King Verlag.
Also as part of its expansion into Europe, LKP bought BIS, an English-language, Dutch design publisher, in an effort to better reach the Dutch market. Despite the acquisition, BIS Publishers will maintain its independent publishing program, led by managing director Bionda Dias.
LKP’s full list will be available from Laurence King Verlag and BIS starting January 1, 2018.
In addition to growing its presence in Europe, LKP unveiled a new global sales program, led by sales director Adrian Greenwood, and a new distribution partner. In the U.K., LKP is bringing sales of a few national accounts in-house, while all other accounts will be handled by Abrams and Chronicle Books (A&CB). With A&CB brought on, the publisher will be ending its partnership with Thames and Hudson, who sold LKP’s list outside the Americas since 1991. (In the Americas, LKP has been, and will continue to be, distributed by Chronicle Books.)
“Now that we have a reached a certain size, it is only natural that we take more of our sales in-house to be as close to our customers as possible,” Laurence King, managing director at the publisher, said in a statement.
LKP will also work with A&CB in the rest of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
In Asia, LKP has appointed Sheila Lo as its Hong Kong-based Asia sales manager. Further appointments are planned in South East Asia, Europe, and elsewhere.
