Press releases & announcements

09th July 2009

Bloomsbury acquires selected Higher Education textbook lists from Hodder Education

Bloomsbury Publishing plc announced today that it has purchased Hodder Education's Higher Education textbook lists in Media and Communications, History and English Literature and that these will be managed under the Bloomsbury Academic imprint

The Hodder Education Higher Education lists include the original Edward Arnold titles in these fields that have been updated and published in numerous new editions incorporating new approaches and methodologies.

Bloomsbury Academic is committed to finding ways of making the content accessible to a wide audience online as well as in print.

‘These titles provide the teaching elements in subject areas where Bloomsbury Academic has been building its research-led books. They complement perfectly the titles we've been signing up in the past few months,' said Frances Pinter, Publisher at the new Bloomsbury Academic imprint.

‘We look forward to working closely with such a talented group of authors and to see how we might best bring added value to this extremely valuable text material' said Jonathan Glasspool, Managing Director of Bloomsbury Academic.

Philip Shaw, Director of Tertiary Publishing at Hodder Education said ‘The sale reflects Hodder's decision to focus our energy in publishing for higher education on our core areas of strength, including Languages, Linguistics, Geography, Psychology, Law, Medicine and Nursing. We are delighted to find such a good home for these highly respected authors.'

For further details please contact:

Jonathan Glasspool, Managing Director of Bloomsbury Academic and Professional,
on 020 7758 0214

Philip Shaw, Director of Tertiary Publishing at Hodder Education,
on 020 7873 6421

Notes to Editors:

Bloomsbury Academic was established late in 2008 and is developing higher-level research-based titles in the Social Sciences and Humanities. These are to be made available simultaneously in print and as e-books with enhanced functionalities. The print version is to be available online on Creative Commons Non-Commercial licences. Whilst the existing Hodder textbooks will not be available on CC licences Bloomsbury Academic is committed to finding student friendly ways of making the content accessible to a wide audience online as well as in print.

Bloomsbury has identified academic and professional publishing as a growing niche sector. Last week it announced the acquisition of Tottel - fulfilling a strategic objective of Bloomsbury in pursuing opportunities in this market and following from the acquisitions of Methuen, Berg Publishers, and The Arden Shakespeare and the set up of Bloomsbury Academic. Bloomsbury now has a solid platform in this sector and will continue to expand by exploring further strategic acquisitions.

The Hodder Education Group is part of Hachette UK. The Group contains two divisions, Hodder Education - Schools, and Hodder Education - Trade and Tertiary. These divisions publish high-quality print and digital materials to meet the latest curriculum, academic, professional, reference and self-improvement needs in the UK and overseas.

Hachette UK is the largest and one of the most diversified book publishers in the UK. The UK group is made up of several publishing companies and imprints including Hachette Children's Books, Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Education, John Murray, Little, Brown Publishing Group, Octopus Publishing Group and Orion Publishing Group with international companies Hachette Book Group Australia, Hachette New Zealand, Hachette India, Hachette Ireland and Hachette Scotland.

Hachette UK is owned by Hachette Livre, the second largest publisher in the world, based in France, and led by Président Directeur Général Arnaud Nourry.  Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère, a leading company on the Paris stock exchange.

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