The Bookseller.com

1st December 2008

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Bonnier hungry for acquisitions

16.09.08 Caroline Horn

Bonnier Publishing remains on the acquisition trail for "high end" children’s publishing companies in the UK and abroad said UK c.e.o. Des Higgins, following the group’s acquisition of Templar Publishing last week.

Bonnier already owns Autumn in the UK, bought in 1999, and its purchase of Templar follows a two-year hunt for further acquisitions. "We wanted a children’s publisher that was doing something exciting and internationally focused, and they have the lot,” said Higgins. "They also have a very creative team.

Templar Publishing, which is based in Dorking, will continue to operate as a separate company with former owners m.d. Amanda Wood and sales and marketing director Ruth Huddleston at the helm. Bonnier will support back-office activities including HR and accounting functions.

"Bonnier is a family-owned company and is very hands-off, and that is the way it will stay," said Higgins. "We wouldn’t want Templar to change their publishing activities, although we may look at fiction perhaps more seriously than they have so far."

Bonnier Publishing is a division of Bonnier Books, itself part of Bonnier AB, a family-owned media group based in Stockholm. Templar already trades with a number of companies within the Bonnier group, including Weldon Owen in the US, Five Mile Press in Australia and Bonnier in Germany.

Templar said it would continue to trade with its existing partners but expects to work more closely with Bonnier companies in the creation of new projects. This spring, the publisher will also extend its international reach with a launch into the US as an imprint of Candlewick, publisher of its highly successful Ology books.

Wood said that Templar’s new owner would help the company to "take the next step" in its development. "We have lots of ideas for development, not just books but DVDs and other electronic products." Bonnier’s support for back office functions would free up the team to focus on creating new projects.

"Bonnier will also give us the ability to look after our properties in ways we were not able to do in the past," she added. The publisher's 'Ologies' series was, for example, "heavily ripped off", she said.

Templar has 38 employees, and is expected to have sales in 2008 of £17m. Last year it reported sales of £18m.

Caroline Horn Home Children’s Bonnier Publishing Templar Publishing Des Higgins Amanda Wood Ruth Huddleston