Penguin Random House (PRH) has signed an agreement with Grupo Zeta to acquire Barcelona-based Spanish-language trade publisher Ediciones B. The agreement was announced yesterday by Antonio Asensio Mosbah, president of the Zeta Group, and by Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House. The purchase price has been reported in the Spanish media to be 40 million euros.
Ediciones B was founded in 1987 and publishes a full range of adult and children's titles across numerous imprints. It has subsidiary operations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela.
PRH's Markus Dohle said: "With the acquisition of the highly regarded publishing house Ediciones B, we further expand and grow in the strategically important Spanish-speaking markets, and we build upon our commitment to providing our authors with outstanding publishing resources and maximum reach."
This is the second significant Spainish acquisition by PRH, which acquired the assets of Spanish publisher Santillana three years ago. With this week's purchase, PRH expects to publish as many as 2,000 Spanish-language titles per year across the globe.
Earlier this week, representatives of Ediciones B were participating in the Bologna International Children's Book Fair, where Catalonia was the Guest of Honor. Asked then about the rumors of the acquisition by PW, Ediciones B's editorial director Berta Noy Falcó declined to comment.
Grupo Zeta announced last year that it was struggling to service debt and was looking raise 25 million euros; this week's sale of Ediciones B is likely a direct result of Grupo Zeta's need to raise further capital.
