Regulatory announcements

Bloomsbury announces that it has today completed the purchase of Applied Visual Arts Publishing ("AVA"), creative publishers for the applied digital arts, from Applied Visual Arts Publishing SA and AVA Publishing (UK) Limited for a total consideration of CHF 2,578,930 (approximately £1,730,000). The consideration will be paid in cash from existing cash balances in three equal annual instalments, commencing on the date of completion.

AVA, established in 2001 in Switzerland, with its English language editorial support office in Worthing, publishes between 20 and 30 books per annum for students and professionals in the applied visual arts and had a turnover of £1,820,000 for the year ended 31 December 2011. The books are written by leading academic authorities, and have been adopted by many hundreds of universities, colleges and higher education bodies around the world. AVA has a strong following within the design community. Their books are renowned for being design-led and have a particular appeal for visual learners.

Following the acquisition, the business will be managed by Kathryn Earle, Bloomsbury's Head of Visual Arts, as part of Bloomsbury's Academic & Professional division. Synergies with the recently acquired Fairchild Books list, the Fashion Photography Archive due to be launched in 2013, and the existing Berg and Visual Arts lists are significant. With this acquisition, Bloomsbury's market share in visual arts - already very strong - is given an additional boost. The combined business will provide significant opportunities for new digital initiatives.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury commented:

"As part of Bloomsbury's ongoing strategy to build our Academic & Professional division, we are delighted to have acquired the AVA list and the timing could not be better. We already have a very strong presence in visual arts, which has been considerably enhanced by the recent acquisition of Fairchild Books. We are pleased to be able to follow on from the Fairchild Books acquisition so quickly with this acquisition, and to consolidate our textbook publishing in the visual arts. An added bonus is that we will be able to take advantage of new co-edition opportunities."

Caroline Walmsley, Managing Director of AVA UK, added,

"Bloomsbury is the perfect home for the AVA list. The publishing synergies are significant - from subject matter, to marketing and the sharing of mailing lists, to distribution and representation. We are very excited to be in such a strong position to move the AVA business and to become part of Bloomsbury."

Enquiries:

Notes for Editors:

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc - Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publisher in London, New York, New Delhi and Sydney. Its founder and Chief Executive is Nigel Newton. Its four divisions are:

Bloomsbury Academic & Professional Publishing - AVA will become part of the Bloomsbury Academic & Professional Division, of which Jonathan Glasspool is Managing Director. Bloomsbury Academic & Professional specialises in the humanities, social sciences, law and tax. In 2012, it will be publishing online the digitized edition of the Winston Churchill Archive and Drama Online (with Faber). The division includes Berg Publishers, Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare, Bristol Classical Press, Continuum and Bloomsbury Professional.

Bloomsbury Information - includes a number of information databases for electronic as well as print publications. Publications include The Encarta World English Dictionary, The Macmillan English Dictionary and Business: The Ultimate Resource. Bloomsbury also provides management services for Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation, a division of the Qatar Foundation.

Bloomsbury Adult Publishing - a substantial list of successful authors including Khaled Hosseini, William Boyd, Margaret Atwood, Donna Tartt, Elizabeth Gilbert, Richard Ford, David Guterson, Jay McInerney, Ben Schott, Anthony Bourdain, William Dalrymple, Ben Macintyre, Dava Sobel, Mark Kurlansky, Chelsea Handler, Heston Blumenthal, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and recent Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. The trade division also features significant reference works including Wisden, Who's Who, Reed's Nautical and Whitaker's.

Bloomsbury Children's Publishing & Educational - includes the Bloomsbury Children's books trade lists in both UK and US, the Walker Books for Young Readers imprint in the US and the A&C Black, Featherstone and Andrew Brodie imprints in the UK education market. In October this year we are launching an imprint called Bloomsbury Activity Books. The highly successful list includes J.K.Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Debi Gliori, Alyxandra Harvey, Carrie Jones, Shannon Hale, Louis Sachar and Benjamin Zephaniah.

AVA Publishing - AVA books are written by leading academic authorities. The texts undergo peer review and are refined through ongoing consultation and development, in order to best reflect the needs of today's student. To date, many hundreds of universities, colleges and higher education bodies around the world have adopted and recommended AVA texts across numerous courses and programmes. The audience is visually literate, technically sophisticated and acutely aware of good design and presentation.

Relevant links:

AVA http://www.avabooks.com/

Fairchild Books www.fairchildbooks.com

Berg Publishers www.bergpublishers.com

Berg Fashion Library www.bergfashionlibrary.com

Bloomsbury Visual Arts http://www.acblack.co.uk/visualarts

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