Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is buying RBA Group's Molino and Serres Spanish-language children's and young adult literature imprints, as well as its Catalan-language imprint, La Magrana.
The RBA Group will continue publishing its historical fiction imprints Gredos, Serie Negra and Integra, and its nonfiction divisions.
PRHGE said that Molino and Serres will "preserve their identity, vocation, and editorial independence within PRHGE, while now benefiting from Latin American distribution, due to PRHGE's strong presence in the region."
Molino and Serres offer children's and YA literature and entertainment, including Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games and Veronica Roth's Divergent series, as well as Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid stories, Rachel Renée Russel's Dork Diaries series, Lauren Magaziner's Case Closed series, and Andy Cutbill's The Cow that Laid an Egg. The imprints also publish authors like Enid Blyton and classic gamebook series such as Choose Your Own Adventure.
Molino was founded in Barcelona by Pablo del Molino Mateus in 1933, with the goal of creating a collection of novels accessible to as wide an audience as possible. The imprint was acquired by the RBA Group in 2004. Serres was founded in 1995 by Poppy and Juan Grjalbo, her father, and has been dedicated to children's literature.
La Magrana will preserve its distinct identity and editorial independence, publishing the work of Catalan writers and Catalan translations. Its catalogue features works by Marta Rojals, Mark Haddon and Roald Dahl, among others. PRHGE will introduce e-book and audiobook editions to La Magrana.
La Magrana was established in 1975 by Francesc Vidal, Jaume Fuster, Jordi Moners i Sinyol and Carles-Jordi Guardiola i Noguera. It was acquired by RBA in 2003.
The acquisition of La Magrana strengthens and expands PRHGE's Catalan-language publishing, which started in 2002 with the relaunch of Rosa dels vents, founded in 1936, and continued with the recent acquisition of La Campana, established in 1985 by author Josep María Espinàs and Isabel Martí.
Ricardo Rodrigo, chairman of the RBA Group said, "We have for a long time had a very close and friendly relationship with the Bertelsmann Group. Back in the 1990s, we got together to launch the National Geographic books and magazines in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Poland. I am sure that the Molino, La Magrana, and Serres catalogs, which we have so fondly developed over so many years, will reach their full potential as part of their new family. This agreement will allow RBA to concentrate on consolidating its position as a beacon of editorial creativity, with over 70,000 newly created pages published every year in areas such as popular culture and science, personal wellbeing, health, and entertainment, and on exploring new marketing avenues that may allow us to capitalize on our creative effort."
Markus Dohle, global CEO of Penguin Random House, said, "Penguin Random House believes in publishing books for everyone and the esteemed catalogs of Molino, Serres, and La Magrana are a natural, welcome complement to our renowned PRHGE publishing programs and to our mission. In keeping with our proven approach to our publishing acquisitions and the previous collaborations between Bertelsmann and RBA, we will bring each of these imprints' books and authors to even more readers while honoring and retaining their unique heritage and editorial distinction."