While the acquisition price has not been disclosed we can safely say it will barely dent Storytel’s bulging coffers.
One of the defining differences between Storytel and its closest rivals in the global digital books streaming markets is that Storytel does not just stream books from multiple publishers and produce its own original content, but also, with some frequency, acquires publishing houses, lock stock and barrel.
The pattern is to bring them into the wider Storytel operation beyond the streaming service, ensuring the digital content has a home on the Storytel service, but also that wider publishing activities can continue, operating as independent units within the company.
Swedish publishing house Bokförlaget Lind & Co, established in 1999 by CEO Kristoffer Lind, has, per the Storytel press release today,
Grown to become one of Sweden’s most successful publishing houses (and) has also established itself as a Swedish pioneer in digital publishing.
Lind & Co issued over 6,000 digital titles in 2020 that accounted for more than 50% of the company’s revenues. In 2020 Lind & Co reported a SEK 22.6 million ($2.6 million) profit on sales of SEK 111 million ($13 million).
While Sweden has been Lind & Co’s primary market, it had since 2018 been pushing out titles in Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Norway, which by no coincidence are core Storytel markets, making the company a natural target for awash-with-cash Jonas Tellander.
While the acquisition price has not been disclosed we can safely say it will barely dent Storytel’s bulging coffers.
Storytel is currently in 24 markets, having most recently soft-launched in Egypt and Saudi Arabia –
and is preparing launches in Israel and Indonesia, with a further 14 other launches expected before 2023.
