Simon & Schuster has bought VBK (Veen Bosch & Keuning), the largest publisher of adult and children's general-interest books in the Netherlands. The move marks S&S's first ownership of a foreign-language publisher and its first time owning a continental European publisher--and its first major move to expand internationally since it was bought by KKR and became a stand-alone company two years ago. The acquisition is subject to the regulatory review process required under Dutch law.
In an announcement to staff about the purchase, S&S president and CEO Jonathan Karp called VBK "a distinguished and venerable collection of imprints, headquartered in Utrecht and with offices in Amsterdam and Antwerp, that publishes many of the most popular and acclaimed Dutch writers, including Geert Mak, Sacha Bronwasser, Lucas Rijneveld, Murat Isik and Herman Koch. In joining with VBK, we believe that together we can grow the audience for Dutch language authors in the Netherlands, Belgium, and throughout the world."
VBK also publishes many international authors in translation, including Nicci French, Colleen Hoover, Stephen King, Sally Rooney, Tatiana de Rosnay, Jeff Kinney, Rachel Renée Russell, Haruki Murakami, Colson Whitehead, Jamie Oliver, and Glennon Doyle. In addition, VBK also operates direct-to-consumer and other publishing-related businesses, including Bookchoice, a subscription-based platform for e-books and audiobooks; Thinium, the largest audiobook producer in the Netherlands, which produces audiobooks for VBK and other companies; Van Dale, the largest publisher of Dutch dictionaries; AudioLab, its podcast production unit; and Boekenwereld, an e-commerce channel.
VBK CEO Geneviève Waldmann will join the S&S leadership team and report to Karp, who called her "a dynamic and innovative leader." VBK will operate as an autonomous division within S&S. He added that he and Waldmann "first began talking about a potential partnership last year at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Our conversation continued at the London Book Fair. During our talks together, we were struck by how similar our values and practices are as publishers. Our shared goal is to expand the audience for our authors and their books.... As the publishing industry becomes more international, we are grateful to be associated with such an outstanding company."