HarperCollins Acquires Egmont Book Business in U.K., Poland

Egmont Publishing has announced that it has entered an agreement to sell its children’s books to HarperCollins covering the U.K., Poland and Schneiderbuch in Germany.

The deal is expected to be complete by April 30.

“[At] Egmont, we are proud of our strong children’s book business, one of the leaders in a competitive European market,” says Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen, chief executive officer, Egmont Publishing. “But we have taken a strategic decision to exit the children’s book business in the U.K. and Poland along with Schneiderbuch in Germany, and we are pleased to announce that HarperCollins will be the future owner. I want to thank our great employees that have done fantastic work over the years developing books and content to an exceptional standard.”

As part of the deal, Egmont will pivot its focus to comics and magazines, as well as marketing services and e-commerce. Egmont Books U.K. will be run as a separate children’s division led by managing director Cally Poplak. Poplak will join HarperCollins’ executive committee in the U.K. and will report to Charlie Redmayne, chief executive officer, HarperCollins U.K. The division will keep its current offices and maintain its publishing autonomy for the near future.

“The acquisition of Egmont will give us a huge opportunity to combine their existing profile and expertise in the U.K., and in Europe with the licensing experience and capability we already have in Suzanne Murphy’s HarperCollins U.S. children’s business,” says Charlie Redmayne, chief executive officer, HarperCollins U.K. “This will enable us to unlock the potential of licensed publishing across the broadest international reach. We look forward to welcoming Cally and her team, and of course Egmont U.K.’s exceptional list, which includes iconic names such as Winnie-the-Pooh, Thomas the Tank Engine, Tintin and Mr. Men, to HarperCollins U.K., where alongside Ann-Janine Murtagh’s record-breaking children’s division we will continue to build an unbeatable children’s publishing proposition.”