Two of the largest publishers in the field of medieval studies, De Gruyter and Brill, are set to merge next year as progress continues on a € 51.5 million deal.
Details were first announced last month, and in a recent update both parties noted that they were “making good progress” on the deal, which will see De Gruyter make an all-cash offer to Brill at a price of € 27.50 per security share.
Both publishing houses have combined revenues of around € 134 million and employ 750 people. They jointly publish over 3,500 books and 800 journals per year, hundreds of which are in the field of medieval studies. De Gruyter, which is based in Berlin, Germany, has a history dating back to 1749, while Brill, which is headquartered in the Dutch city of Leiden, is even older, having first started publishing in 1683.
“Brill is a highly regarded publishing house in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a strong strategic alignment with De Gruyter, and we are enthusiastic about the clear logic of this transaction,” says Carsten Buhr, Chief Executive Officer of De Gruyter. “De Gruyter and Brill are both committed to publishing excellent research, and our publishing programs complement each other perfectly. We believe combining our businesses will provide us with the scale to finance the necessary investments in technology, workflows and platforms. This will enable us to further improve the author experience and our services to libraries and academic and professional institutions worldwide. We believe the combination has the ability to accelerate our combined growth rate and we look forward to working with Brill on a clear business plan from a shared vision and joint ambition: to create the leading academic publisher in the Humanities.”
Peter Hendriks, Chief Executive Officer of Brill, agrees with the sentiment. “Today’s announcement marks a historic step for Brill,” he says. “We attach great value to our long heritage, and foster our independence as a publishing house. At the same time, we are convinced that, in order to serve our communities, scale is essential to keeping Brill relevant and competitive going forward. By joining forces with De Gruyter we can make a leap in our growth strategy and create a publishing house with revenues of around EUR 134 million. Together we will benefit from the reach, scale and resources of our joint businesses.”
The negotiations for the deal are expected to be finalized next month, with the merger taking place in the second quarter of 2024.
Two of the largest publishers in the field of medieval studies, De Gruyter and Brill, are set to merge next year as progress continues on a € 51.5 million deal.
Details were first announced last month, and in a recent update both parties noted that they were “making good progress” on the deal, which will see De Gruyter make an all-cash offer to Brill at a price of € 27.50 per security share.
Both publishing houses have combined revenues of around € 134 million and employ 750 people. They jointly publish over 3,500 books and 800 journals per year, hundreds of which are in the field of medieval studies. De Gruyter, which is based in Berlin, Germany, has a history dating back to 1749, while Brill, which is headquartered in the Dutch city of Leiden, is even older, having first started publishing in 1683.
“Brill is a highly regarded publishing house in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a strong strategic alignment with De Gruyter, and we are enthusiastic about the clear logic of this transaction,” says Carsten Buhr, Chief Executive Officer of De Gruyter. “De Gruyter and Brill are both committed to publishing excellent research, and our publishing programs complement each other perfectly. We believe combining our businesses will provide us with the scale to finance the necessary investments in technology, workflows and platforms. This will enable us to further improve the author experience and our services to libraries and academic and professional institutions worldwide. We believe the combination has the ability to accelerate our combined growth rate and we look forward to working with Brill on a clear business plan from a shared vision and joint ambition: to create the leading academic publisher in the Humanities.”
Peter Hendriks, Chief Executive Officer of Brill, agrees with the sentiment. “Today’s announcement marks a historic step for Brill,” he says. “We attach great value to our long heritage, and foster our independence as a publishing house. At the same time, we are convinced that, in order to serve our communities, scale is essential to keeping Brill relevant and competitive going forward. By joining forces with De Gruyter we can make a leap in our growth strategy and create a publishing house with revenues of around EUR 134 million. Together we will benefit from the reach, scale and resources of our joint businesses.”
The negotiations for the deal are expected to be finalized next month, with the merger taking place in the second quarter of 2024.
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