The two companies, Aschehoug and Bonnier Forlagene, will become one new publishing house owned by the Egmont media group and be called Lindhardt & Ringhof. Last year the publishers released more than 1,000 new titles and sold approximately 8 million books.

Several well-known Danish publishing houses, authors and book clubs will now be consolidated into a single company. Bonnier Forlagene will be acquired by Aschehoug, which will simultaneously change its name to Lindhardt & Ringhof. The new publishing house will carry on the activities of Aschehoug’s imprints Athene, Sesam and Alinea as well as the Bonnier imprints Carlsen, Akademisk, Alfabeta and Børsens Forlag. Also comprising several book clubs including 12 Bøger and Denmark’s oldest book club, Bogsamleren; the new publishing house will employ 220 people. Last year, Bonnier Forlagene and Aschehoug generated revenues totaling DKK 690 million. Anette Wad, Managing Director of the Egmont publisher Aschehoug to date, will head up the new company Lindhardt & Ringhof.

With the acquisition of Bonnier Forlagene, Aschehoug continues the growth strategy it has pursued over the past four years, a strategy whose numerous mergers and acquisitions have made the company Denmark’s second-largest publisher after Gyldendal.

The new publisher’s broad spectrum of Danish and international bestselling authors includes fiction writers like Leif Davidsen, Sara Blædel, Knud Romer, John Grisham and John Irving. The company also commands a strong position particularly in children’s publishing. All in all, the new publishing house produces more educational and literary fiction titles for children than any other in Denmark.

“We are making publishing history today, this being the most momentous change the Danish book business has seen in years. We want to be Denmark’s most dynamic publishing house when it comes to new ideas for specific titles as well as to marketing initiatives. We plan to boost our collaboration with authors and develop ideas with them. The new publishing house embraces a galaxy of many small editorial units with different specialties. This means we can be big while also retaining the intimacy of the small department and the specialist expertise it offers authors,” Anette Wad explains. She adds that Bonnier Forlagene and Aschehoug supplement each other well:

“Both produce titles in all genres, have clear publishing profiles and run well-known book clubs. For this reason, making the two formerly competitive publishers into colleagues pursuing the same goal is a highly logical move and one that will generate even better publications,” she points out.

“At the same time, the initiative is an answer to the increasing concentration seen industry-wide in bookstores as well as generally in the retail trade. Working with individual authors has always been vital for any publisher. But today the way authors gain access to the market also depends on the publisher’s size. Size generates the resources that give books greater visibility. Size also makes it possible to invest in renewing all genres and thus reaching new readers. We want to be the best at selling and marketing books in all fields of publication,” asserts Anette Wad.

“For Bonnier, our overriding concern was to find a solution that underpins Danish publishing activities and authors’ interests also in the long term. To that end, we believe volume is decisive and are therefore satisfied that an agreement has been made with Egmont that strengthens Denmark’s number two publisher,” says Maria Curman, Managing Director of Bonnier Books.

Apart from Managing Director Anette Wad, the management of Lindhardt & Ringhof will consist of Erik Barfoed, Publishing Director; Jeppe Mossin, Sales & Marketing Director; Birgitte Kjærsgaard, Chief Financial Officer; and Ebbe Dam Nielsen, Publishing Director of Education.

“In the past few years, Morten Hesseldahl has steered Bonnier Forlagene through a successful economic turnaround without letting literary standards slide. He has profoundly contributed to the company for many years, but will not be part of its ongoing development. A publisher of this size has room for only one leader. Knowing this, everyone agreed this was the most appropriate decision,” says Maria Curman.

The purchase of Bonnier Forlagene is subject to the final approval of the relevant authorities.

Two publishing houses will also join forces in Norway to establish a stronger position in the book business when Egmont’s N.W. Damm & Søn AS merges with the Bonnier-owned publisher J.W. Cappelens Forlag AS. The new publishing house, Cappelen Damm AS, is owned jointly by Egmont and Bonnier AB.