HarperCollins Holland acquires new lifestyle imprints from Gottmer

HarperCollins Holland will acquire the lifestyle imprints Altamira, Becht, Dominicus and Hollandia, along with associated personnel, from publisher Gottmer Uitgevers Groep (Gottmer) from 1st March 2025.

The move will further expand HarperCollins Holland’s position in the trade book markets in the Netherlands and Belgium. The addition of the lifestyle imprints will expand the HarperCollins Holland non-fiction portfolio to include categories such as cooking, healthy eating, spirituality, travel and watersports.

As part of the deal, Vaarbewijs Academy, a boating licence training platform, will also join the HarperCollins Holland portfolio.

Jan-Joris Keijzer, managing director, HarperCollins Holland: "The lifestyle imprints Altamira, Becht, Dominicus, and Hollandia have an impressive publishing history, exceptional authors, and great books and have become strong brands in their own right, trusted by generations of readers.

"We are proud to welcome these brands and their fantastic supporting team members under the umbrella of the HarperCollins publishing group and look forward to shaping the future of the publishing house together."

Following the divestment, Gottmer will focus entirely on the children’s book market. Marius van Campen, business director, Gottmer Uitgevers Groep, remarked: "In HarperCollins we have found a party that can allow the lifestyle imprints and employees to flourish further. For our own organisation, this step means that we will focus on the titles and characters of Gottmer children’s books and Big Balloon. In that respect, we have a clear ambition to further increase reading pleasure among young people."

Chantal Restivo-Alessi, CEO, International Foreign Language, and CDO, HarperCollins Publishers, added: "Holland is a key market in our international portfolio and one where we see great growth opportunities. This acquisition will allow us to increase our market share and position us for continued growth in the market."