Storytel, the Swedish audiobbook company, has acquired Gummerus, the third-largest publisher in Finland.
Gummerus was founded in 1872 and was run as a family business until now. It publishes some 200 titles per year and is home to well known authors, including Minna Rytisalo, Sisko Savonlahti, Pauliina Rauhala. It is also Finnish publisher for numerous foreign writers, including Jojo Moyes, Nora Roberts, Michael Connelly, and others.
Gummerus is also one of four partners that co-own the Helsinki Literary Agency, giving Storytel a stake in the Finnish literary agency as well.
The company, which had a turnover of EUR 7.6 million ($8.4 million )in 2018 and made a profit after financial items of approximately EUR 0.3 million ($330,000). Gummerus will continue to be run by Anna Baijars, the current CEO, as an independent company.
For its part, this is just the latest acquisition for Storytel, which also owns Norstedts Förlagsgrupp, Sweden’s oldest publishing house, and several other smaller publishing entities in the Nordic region. Founded in 2005, the company now offers streaming audiobook services in 18 markets, having most recently expanded operations to Germany and Brazil, and surpassed one million paid subscribers in August.
“The acquisition of Gummerus Kustannus shows Storytel’s ambition to invest in content and in the digitalization of the Finnish book market," said Jonas Tellander, CEO and founder of Storytel. "I feel both excited and confident as I welcome Gummerus Kustannus to the Storytel family and our publishing business area."
