January 7, 2025
(press release)
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HarperCollins Holland today announced it has agreed to acquire the lifestyle imprints Altamira, Becht, Dominicus, and Hollandia, along with associated personnel, from publisher Gottmer Uitgevers Groep (Gottmer), effective March 1, 2025. The acquisition will further expand HarperCollins Holland’s fast-growing position in the trade book market in the Netherlands and Belgium. The acquired imprints—part of Gottmer based in Haarlem—have more than 125 years of publishing history. They hold leading positions in their respective markets, with successful bestselling authors, a strong content pool, and exceptional brand awareness. As part of the deal, Vaarbewijs Academy, a boating license training platform, will also join the HarperCollins Holland portfolio. The addition of these four lifestyle imprints will expand the HarperCollins Holland nonfiction portfolio to include categories such as cooking, healthy eating, spirituality, travel, and watersports. “The lifestyle imprints Altamira, Becht, Dominicus, and Hollandia have an impressive publishing history, exceptional authors, and great books and have become strong brands in their own right, trusted by generations of readers. We are proud to welcome these brands and their fantastic supporting team members under the umbrella of the HarperCollins publishing group and look forward to shaping the future of the publishing house together,” said Jan-Joris Keijzer, Managing Director, HarperCollins Holland. Following the divestment, Gottmer will focus entirely on the children's book market. Marius van Campen, Business Director, Gottmer Uitgevers Groep, remarked: "In HarperCollins we have found a party that can allow the lifestyle imprints and employees to flourish further. For our own organization, this step means that we will focus on the titles and characters of Gottmer children’s books and Big Balloon. In that respect, we have a clear ambition to further increase reading pleasure among young people." Chantal Restivo-Alessi, CEO, International Foreign Language, and CDO, HarperCollins Publishers, added: “Holland is a key market in our international portfolio and one where we see great growth opportunities. This acquisition will allow us to increase our market share and position us for continued growth in the market.” ### About HarperCollins Publishers About HarperCollins Holland About Gottmer Uitgevers Groep Jan-Joris Keijzer Marius van Campen
HarperCollins Publishers is the second largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in 15 countries. With more than 200 years of history and 120+ branded imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year in 16 languages and has a print and digital catalog of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, and the Man Booker Prize. HarperCollins, headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) and can be visited online at corporate.harpercollins.com.
HarperCollins Holland publishes around 100 new trade books and 150 new Pocket Series books every year under the imprints HarperCollins, HarperFirst, and Harlequin. Our authors include global and local stars like Karin Slaughter, Jeroen Windmeijer, Thomas Erikson, Charles den Tex, Heather Morris, Judith Visser, Gillian King, Paula Hawkins, Lieke Hester, Laurie Gilmore, and Elma van Vliet. HarperCollins Holland is based in Amsterdam and currently employs over 35 people. It is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, and can be visited online at www.harpercollins.nl.
Gottmer Uitgevers Groep is a leading, independent publisher of children's books. In its publications, Gottmer combines humor and relaxation with development and expansion of knowledge. It offers a varied and original high-quality range, in which important themes contribute to the development of young children and teenagers. Many readers know the publisher from well-known characters and series (Dikkie Dik, Boer Boris, Rupsje Nooitgenoeg and De Grijze Jager), renowned authors (Paul Biegel and Jan Paul Schutten) and popular licenses (Bluey, Peppa Pig, and Paw Patrol). Both Gottmer children's books and Big Balloon are part of Gottmer Uitgevers Groep in Haarlem. Visitors can explore Gottmer online at: www.gottmer.nl.
HarperCollins Holland
Jan-Joris.Keijzer@harpercollins.nl
+316 3496 3108
Gottmer Uitgevers Groep
mvc@gottmer.nl
+316 3430 1669
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