Simon & Schuster has acquired Veen Bosch & Keuning, the largest Dutch book publishing house. The acquisition includes all of VBK's imprints in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as its sister companies, the audiobook producer Thinium, and Bookchoice, a subscription-based platform for e-books and audiobooks. Financial terms of the cash acquisition, which is still subject to review, were not disclosed.

The move marks the first major instance of a promised international expansion of S&S, which CEO Jonathan Karp alluded to last year following the acquisition of S&S by private equity firm KKR. The acquisition is also S&S's first of a non-English-language publisher, and provides the company a new foothold in the European market, where "the companies aim to provide a better avenue to sell, produce, and distribute... titles in Europe and to publish more S&S titles locally," as per a release. VBK's distribution, to be handled through S&S's international network, is planned to expand beyond the Dutch-speaking region.

"In the discussions with VBK about a possible collaboration, we immediately noticed that as publishers we share the same values and have the same way of working," S&S CEO Jonathan Karp said in a statement. "Our common goal is to expand the audience for our authors and their books in an increasingly international publishing industry. We are very excited about VBK’s growth opportunities."

VBK will continue to operate autonomously from S&S following the completion of its acquisition, the publishers said in a release announcing the move, with CEO Geneviève Waldmann slated to continue to lead VBK and to join the S&S leadership team. VBK, Thinium, and Bookchoice will remain Dutch companies, based in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Weesp, and Antwerp, and all employees will be retained following the acquisition, the companies said. All VBK employees will also be eligible to partake in S&S's employee ownership program, dubbed Simon Shares. VBK has about 280 employees, and publishes approximately 1,500 titles annually.

“We would like to offer our writers a larger and international platform," Waldmann said in a statement, calling S&S and VBK a "perfect match." She added: "By joining S&S, we can expand on this ambition and our pursuit of further digitization and innovation."