Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, who has directed Macmillan Children’s Books in the U.K. for 12 years, is leaving the company to assume the newly created position of president and publisher of Walker Books. With the appointment, Rasmussen will also be responsible for Candlewick Press, Holiday House, Peachtree, and Walker Books Australia, all of which, like Walker, are owned by Trustbridge Global Media. Rasmussen will begin her new role after the summer, and will be based at Walker Books’ London office.
Trustbridge Global Media was formed in 2016 by Trustbridge Partners, a Shanghai-based private equity and venture capital firm. Since its launch, TGM has built a global children’s content company through a combination of acquisitions and internal expansion. It acquired Walker Books, parent company of Candlewick, in 2020. Previous purchases of U.S. children’s publishers were the 2016 acquisition of Holiday House and the 2018 purchase of Peachtree Press. Among its in-house initiatives was the 2022 formation of Trustbridge Entertainment, whose mandate is to develop and produce kids' and family programming based in part on its book content.
Rasmussen will be taking over some of the duties that had been performed by Karen Lotz, who stepped down as Walker Books Group managing director in November. She will be additionally handling all business functions, including sales, marketing, production, and finance, for all of the companies, including Holiday House and Peachtree. In announcing Rasmussen’s appointment, TGM said the “rapid expansion” of the publisher necessitated the creation of a new position whose scope would include responsibility for all TGM-owned publishing houses. Rasmussen’s appointment, the announcement continued, “is part of TGM’s strategy to integrate the management of its book publishing operations, preserve the distinct editorial voices of each publishing house, and grow strategically.” Rasmussen will report to TGM board chairman John String.
"We are delighted to welcome Belinda as president and publisher,” String said in a statement. “Belinda’s leadership will help us capitalize on the strength of our remarkable group, integrating where it makes sense to do so and continuing to leverage creative independence of each publishing house. She is a visionary, passionate leader with a proven track record and shares our commitment to bringing important, enduring content to kids around the world.”
Prior to Pan Macmillan, Rasmussen was managing director of Carlton Publishing Group, and spent nine years at Egmont in a range of senior roles from international sales to strategic business development. “Leading Macmillan Children's Books has been a privilege and it is hard to leave its exceptional authors and illustrators, my team, and my leadership colleagues,” Rasmussen said in a statement. “At the same time, joining Walker Group, with its legacy, wealth of outstanding creative talent and global reach is such an exciting opportunity—an adventure I can't wait to embark upon.”
