Italy’s De Agostini S.p.A. is a family-owned international group, founded in 1901 and controlled by B&D Holding. The holding company is organized as a financial conglomerate that operates in the publishing, gaming, media communications and the financial sector. The sub-holding firm De Agostini Editore is present in 30 countries with publications in 13 languages. The group’s publishing businesses include De Agostini Publishing, De Agostini Libri, Editions Atlas France/Suisse, and Digital De Agostini.

De Agostini Publishing creates partworks and engages in direct marketing, with a production that includes sample collections, hobby courses, educational and edutainment products for children, trading cards, video, and products for digital devices.

Editions Atlas France and Editions Atlas Suisse operate in direct marketing, mainly in French and German-speaking countries.

De Agostini Libri coordinates and manages the publishing activities on the Italian market, focusing on the production of books, guides, cartographic editions and scholarly publishing. De Agostini Scuola S.p.A. is one of the leading scholarly publishers, selling to schools and institutions of all levels.

Digital De Agostini was formed to develop the presence of De Agostini on digital platforms, including television, online, and mobile handsets. Digital De Agostini produces and manages original editorial content.

Analysis & Key Developments

Financial

Results shared by De Agostini’s publishing division Attivittà Editoriali have steadily declined in recent years. The results for 2014 and 2013 were each restated in the following year at a number significantly lower what had been initially reported. There were also changes in the breakdown of reported results, so there can be no direct year on year comparison.

In a review of 2014 and 2013 revenues, de Agostini provided additional specifics to the public on what was summarized under the publishing division. Results were driven primarily by the publication of partworks (at 356 EUR in 2014, down by 9.6% against 2013). Traditional book publishing added another 87 million EUR in 2014 (up 4.8% over 2013).

Other revenues included Direct Marketing as well as digital content for TV licensing, which are outside of the numbers included in this ranking.

As a result, De Agostino is ranked based on publishing revenue of 443 million EUR in 2014, and 477 million EUR in 2013 (down from initially 1.12 billion EUR for 2013). As in our previous ranking, those details had not yet been made available. For 2015, no such breakdown figures have been released.

Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization

In April 2014 De Agostini Libri and Timbuktu, a start-up that develops digital products for children, signed an agreement to launch new books and interactive apps for young readers aged six to nine.

As part of a restructuring, de Agostini Editore dissolved the Professional and Training division.

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