Bloomsbury Publishing enters UK tax market with acquisition of Tottel

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (“Bloomsbury”) has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Tottel Publishing Limited (“Tottel”), an independent professional and academic publisher in the UK and Ireland. The offer to acquire the entire share capital of Tottel “debt free” will be satisfied by a cash consideration of £9.96m and upon completion Tottel Publishing Ltd will be renamed Bloomsbury Professional.

For the 12 month period ended 28 February 2009, Tottel generated revenue of £6.25m, operating profit of £0.93m and EBITDA of £1.19m (which included acquisition goodwill of £0.249m). The gross assets of the business at that date were £3.58m. Tottel was founded in 2004 and employs 27 people. The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.

Bloomsbury has identified academic and professional publishing as a growing niche sector. The proposed acquisition of Tottel fulfils a strategic objective of Bloomsbury in pursuing opportunities in this market and follows from the acquisitions of Methuen, Berg Publishers, and The Arden Shakespeare and the set up of Bloomsbury Academic. Bloomsbury now has a solid platform in this sector and will continue to expand by exploring further strategic acquisitions.

Tottel is the leading independent publisher in its field, and produces an extensive range of books, journals and loose-leaf services for academics and students as well as for lawyers, accountants and tax advisers in private practice and business. Its list includes many authoritative titles which have been market-leaders for many years, including Powers and Harris: Clinical Negligence, Parker’s Modern Wills’ and Rayney’s Tax Planning for Owner Managed Companies as well as Irish Conveyancing Precedents and The Irish Constitution and, in Scotland, the Court of Sessions Practice. It has had great success with recent new publishing initiatives, including its Core Tax list.

Much of its revenue is subscription-based and in dynamic and fast-moving areas, making its information ideal for online delivery. The company already has a number of valuable online agreements in place, and will be seeking to build on these as it migrates its revenue online over the next two to three years. It already has an extensive e-book programme.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury, said: “The acquisition of Tottel is a further and important step in the development of our academic and specialist publishing activities, with the added benefits that come from developing a robust presence in the professional sector. Subscription-based businesses such as this are fundamentally sound, and these particular markets have significant online potential which we can help to unlock. Tottel has a strong team that has built a high quality list and strong market presence. Tottel’s Director’s Jim Smith and Sarah Thomas are two of the most experienced and entrepreneurial publishers in UK professional publishing, and I’m delighted to welcome Jim Smith, Sarah Thomas and the Tottel team to Bloomsbury.”