5th December 2022, London
Hachette UK has announced the acquisition of Welbeck Publishing Group, the globally recognised independent publisher of commercial books and gifts for adults and children. This follows the signing of an agreement between the shareholders of Welbeck and Hachette UK on 30 November 2022.
Mark Smith and Marcus Leaver, Co-Founders & Executive Directors, Welbeck Publishing Group said: “Both of us could never have envisaged in March 2019 what a wild and rewarding experience founding Welbeck would be. The last few years have seen so much change in the world, it’s been daunting and exhilarating at the same time, and we are proud of what we have achieved. Welbeck has been transformed from a predominantly co-edition focused business into a consumer facing trade publisher with revenue that will exceed £25m in 2022.
We would like to thank our team, who have excelled in ways we could have only imagined. And we would also like to thank our authors, illustrators and network of suppliers who have been key partners as we evolved the business over the last three years. Lastly, a huge thanks to our customers for buying the wonderful books we have published. We look forward to seeing the business continue its upward trajectory as part of Headline and Hachette.”
David Shelley, CEO of Hachette UK, said: “Welbeck’s creativity, dynamism and consumer focus is inspiring, the company is exceptionally strong in a wide range of fields, and we’re excited to welcome them to our business. I’m really looking forward to learning from and working with Welbeck’s brilliant team and to welcoming their fantastic list of authors. I know we’ll be able to help the company to go from strength to strength in the years to come and to honour Welbeck’s ambitious publishing vision.”
Following the acquisition, Welbeck’s gift, illustrated and adult trade publishing will become part of Headline Publishing Group and Welbeck’s children’s list will become part of Hachette Children’s Group.
Mari Evans, Managing Director of Headline Publishing Group, said: “I’m thrilled we now have this unique opportunity to bring Welbeck and its expertise in illustrated and gift publishing into our divisional fold. Since 2016, Headline has been on an incredible growth journey – with a culture of more innovative, creative publishing generating a run of market-leading bestsellers. I’m looking forward to learning from my new colleagues and, together, seeing us become a genuine force to be reckoned with.”
Hilary Murray Hill, CEO of Hachette Children’s Group, said: “I’ve been hugely impressed by the creativity and imagination of the Welbeck children’s list over recent years and am excited by the opportunity of collaborating with new colleagues from Welbeck to grow and develop these brands, authors and illustrators – some of whom we are extremely proud to already be working with – as part of the Hachette Children’s Group.”
The acquisition of Welbeck is part of Hachette UK’s longer-term strategy to diversify into specialist areas by acquiring publishers who are leaders in their field, including Paperblanks, Bookouture, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Laurence King, Summersdale and Short Books.
About Hachette UK:
Our mission at Hachette UK is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.
We are one of the UK’s largest publishing groups, with 12 autonomous divisions and over 50 imprints with a rich and diverse history. We are the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.
We publish thousands of new books across the group every year and our authors include Michael Connelly, Alice Oseman, John Grisham, Val McDermid, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Nelson Mandela, Stephenie Meyer, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai.
Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Little, Brown, Orion, John Murray Press, Dialogue Books, Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, Quercus, Bookouture and Octopus. Hachette Children’s Group publishes a diverse range of books for children of all ages and Hodder Education is a market leader in resources for both primary and secondary schools. In 2022, we welcomed Paperblanks, the second-largest premium stationery brand in the world, to our group.
We have offices around the UK, including our headquarters in London and the Hely Hutchinson Centre (HHC) for distribution in Didcot. We have subsidiaries in several other regions, including Australia, India, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand.
About WBK:
Welbeck Publishing Group has a mission to create books that fit perfectly into our customers’ lives, at a good price. Our talented team seeks to innovate both in our books and related product and our commercial strategy. Authors work with us because of our focus and commitment to their ideas, and our carefully curated lists currently include fiction, narrative non-fiction, illustrated reference, gift and children’s titles. We publish in 30 languages in more than 60 countries, selling through traditional and non-traditional channels.
