12 December 2022

HACHETTE UK ACQUIRES WELBECK PUBLISHING GROUP

Hachette UK has acquired independent Welbeck Publishing Group for an undisclosed sum

Hachette UK has acquired independent Welbeck Publishing Group for an undisclosed sum, with an agreement made between the shareholders of Welbeck and Hachette UK on 30th November 2022.

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. 

Hachette UK says the acquisition of Welbeck is part of its longer-term strategy to diversify into specialist areas by acquiring publishers that are “leaders in their field”; in recent years its acquisitions have included Paperblanks, Bookouture, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Laurence King, Summersdale, John Catt Educational and Short Books.

David Shelley, c.e.o 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.”

Mark Smith and Marcus Leaver, who co-founded Welbeck in 2019 and are its executive directors, will be stepping down. They said: “Both of us could never have envisaged in March 2019 what a wild and rewarding experience founding Welbeck would be. 

“The past 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.