Bonnier sells Weldon Owen to Insight Editions

Wednesday, 15 August 2018 Books+Publishing

Bonnier Books has sold illustrated books imprint Weldon Owen to US-based illustrated publisher Insight Editions, reports the Bookseller.

The business will operate as Weldon Owen International, a newly formed subsidiary of Insight Editions, based in San Francisco, US.

Originally established as a publisher of children’s books in Australia in 1984, Weldon Owen was sold to UK-based Bonnier Publishing Group in 2006. The business was split into two parts, Weldon Owen Publishing and Weldon Owen International. The Sydney office of Weldon Owen Publishing was closed in 2012 and relocated to London, where it existed as an imprint under Bonnier UK. Weldon Owen International, based in San Francisco, was incorporated into Bonnier Publishing USA in 2016.

John Owen, who co-founded Weldon Owen with Kevin Weldon in 1984, will return to the company to manage the children’s division. All five Weldon Owen UK staff are currently in consultation over redundancy.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, Bonnier Publishing announced it was restructuring its Australian business in March this year, with most staff entering into redundancy. Titles on the local Echo Publishing lists were consolidated under Bonnier Zaffre UK. Mark Smith has stepped down from the position of CEO of Bonnier Zaffre and chef executive Perminder Mann has taken over from interim group CEO Jim Zetterlund.

Category: International news