Bloomsbury acquires Red Globe Press from Macmillan Education

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing has agreed to acquire certain assets of Red Globe Press from Macmillan Education for a total consideration is £3.7m.

Bloomsbury stated that £2.1m of the acquisition of RGP, which specialises in high-quality publishing for higher education students, will be satisfied in cash at completion, while up to £1.6m will be paid on or post-completion, subject to assignment of certain contracts.

The London-listed group stated that RGP had generated £9.6m of revenues in 2020, with pre-tax profits coming in at £1.1m. Gross assets were approximately £800,000.

Bloomsbury highlighted that there were opportunities for "profit enhancements" following the integration of the business into Bloomsbury, with RGP expected to contribute approximately £6.0m of revenue and £400,000 of profit before tax throughout the current year, prior to integration and acquisition costs.

Chief executive Nigel Newton said: "We are delighted to acquire the Red Globe Press list. Red Globe Press aligns well with our existing academic publishing and provides a gateway to new and attractive academic publishing areas.

"This move is another key step in the delivery of our strategic growth strategy, and continues our drive to grow our Non-Consumer business. Acquiring these complementary lists accelerates our digital growth and our significant presence in humanities and social sciences academic publishing."

As of 0900 BST, Bloomsbury shares were up 1.79% at 285.0p.