S&S agrees to acquire Netherlands publisher VBK

Simon & Schuster (S&S) has announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Netherlands publisher VBK (Veen Bosch & Keuning).

‘In the months since we became a standalone, independent publishing company, I have repeatedly stated that international publishing will be one of the key areas of growth for Simon & Schuster,’ said S&S CEO Jonathan Karp, in a memo to S&S staff announcing the acquisition. ‘VBK marks Simon & Schuster’s first entrée into a territory where English is not the most spoken language,’ Karp added.

The largest publisher of adult and children’s general interest books in the Netherlands, VBK ‘is a distinguished and venerable collection of imprints, headquartered in Utrecht and with offices in Amsterdam and Antwerp, that publishes many of the most popular and acclaimed Dutch writers, including Geert Mak, Sacha Bronwasser, Lucas Rijneveld, Murat Isik and Herman Koch,’ said Karp. International authors published by VBK in translation include Nicci French, Colleen Hoover, Stephen King, Sally Rooney, Tatiana de Rosnay, Jeff Kinney, Rachel Renée Russell, Haruki Murakami, Colson Whitehead, Jamie Oliver and Glennon Doyle.

Karp said VBK would maintain its independence and operate as an autonomous division. VBK has about 280 employees and publishes approximately 1,500 titles annually, according to Publishers Weekly. ‘The scale at which S&S operates offers significant growth opportunities for VBK in areas such as technology, production, and distribution,’ said S&S in a statement. ‘The companies’ shared ambition is that the work of VBK’s Dutch-language authors will find untapped audiences on a global scale.’

Besides its publishing, VBK also operates direct-to-consumer and other publishing-related businesses, including ebook and audiobook subscription platform Bookchoice; audiobook producer Thinium; dictionary publisher Van Dale; podcast production unit AudioLab; and ecommerce channel Boekenwereld.

Category: International news