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Bloomsbury Publishing acquires academic publisher Zed Books

Published: 18:48 20 Mar 2020 AEDT

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc -

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) has acquired certain assets of Zed Books, the London-based academic and non-fiction publisher.

Bloomsbury is to pay £1.75mln for the acquisition, of which £875,000 has been paid in cash upfront.

Zed will operate within Bloomsbury's Academic & Professional division and is expected to contribute around £800,000 of revenue to Bloomsbury in its first year.

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The acquisition is expected to break even in its first year, before reorganisation and acquisition costs, then be earnings enhancing thereafter, with improved profit following the integration of the business into Bloomsbury.

"We are delighted to become the new guardian of the prestigious and progressive Zed list,” said Jonathan Glasspool, the managing director of Bloomsbury's Academic & Professional Division.

“The Zed programme aligns very well with our existing publishing within I.B. Tauris and complements Bloomsbury Academic's publishing across a wide range of humanities and social science subjects. Over 40 years, Zed has built up a unique presence in African and Development Studies, an area we wish to grow,” he added.

Kika Sroka-Miller, the co-owner and a director of Zed Books, said Bloomsbury's recognition of the value of Zed's Global South focus comes at a pivotal historical moment.

“Moving the Zed list to Bloomsbury not only secures its long-term future and development but greatly increases the global reach of the Africa and Development lists in particular, which has always been Zed's primary goal. Furthermore, Zed's ground-breaking Middle East, Gender and Sexualities, Race and Indigenous Politics lists fit well within Bloomsbury's broader publishing programme and crucially, the move ensures Zed's books remain independently published," Sroka-Miller said.

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