Bonnier Publishing buys John Blake

Bonnier Publishing has bought independent publisher John Blake. 

The acquisition of the commercial non-fiction publisher, whose owner, former journalist John Blake, set up the company in 1991, was made for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition takes place with "immediate effect" and, according to Bonnier, there are "no planned changes to headcount".

John Blake specialises in high profile, mass-market non-fiction, with bestselling titles including Being Jordan by Katie Price, Not Quite a Geordie by Geordie Shore star Holly Hagan and The Breaking Bad Cookbook by Chris Mitchell. Bonnier has said its aim it to "grow the company back to £4m+", reporting John Blake's turnover last year at £2.2m and the publication of 110 titles in 2015. 

Bonnier Publishing has expanded rapidly over the last two years, acquiring publishers IglooBooks in October 2014, Totally Entwined Group in June 2015, and absorbing Weldon Owen US in February, and launching new imprints, including Zaffre, the publisher of international bestseller, Maestra.

John Blake Publishing will become part of Bonnier Publishing’s Kings Road Publishing division, led by c.e.o. Perminder Mann. It will remain at its current location in Fulham, with Blake staying on in his current role and reporting to Mann. 

John Blake, founder and publisher of John Blake Publishing, said: “Richard Johnson has turned Bonnier Publishing into the most innovative and exciting book publisher in Europe. We are thrilled to be joining the group and look forward to huge success together.”

Richard Johnson, group c.e.o. added: “John Blake Publishing is a fast-moving, commercial publisher so will fit into the group perfectly. Our aim for the next two years is to work together with John to grow the company back to £4m plus."

John Blake recently suffered complaints from authors over delayed royalty statements incurred while transferring over to new software.