Books
© Getty Images
The American publishing giant Simon & Schuster takes over the Dutch Veen, Bosch & Keuning (VBK).
The Dutch publishing group VBK comes into the hands of Simon & Schuster, one of the global publishers Big five in the publishing world. Both companies report this in a joint press release. This means that well-known publishers such as Atlas Contact, Ambo/Anthos, De Fontein and Luitingh-Sijthoff, as well as the dictionary publisher Van Dale and the Flemish publisher Houtekiet, will come into American hands. This is the first time that Simon & Schuster has acquired a non-English publishing house.
With the help of S&S, VBK hopes to offer Dutch-speaking authors “a larger and international platform,” CEO Geneviève Waldmann said in the press release. VBK emphasizes that it will maintain its independence and operate as an autonomous division within the group. Simon & Schuster, for its part, wants to gain better access to the Dutch and European markets.
At the end of March, there was a commotion in the Dutch book sector after rumors about a merger between the VBK and WPG concerns, of which De Bezige Bij is a part. The authors of the Writers’ Association of De Bezige Bij then wrote a letter of protest to CEO Wiet de Bruijn. Dutch-language literary publishers have been going through tough times for some time now. De Bezige Bij eliminated the position of publisher last year and let eleven employees leave, while at Atlas Contact the publishing director had to resign. One of the problems they face is the growing market share of English-language books. vdbv
