HarperCollins takes over Gräfe und Unzer

Munich — The publi­shing group Harper­Coll­ins Germany has announ­ced the take­over of the German guide­book publisher Gräfe und Unzer (GU). The sales coope­ra­tion ISP Isar Sales Part­ner will also move under the new umbrella. The tran­sac­tion is subject to appr­oval by the anti­trust autho­ri­ties. The seller is the Hamburg-based Ganske Group. With the acqui­si­tion, Harper­Coll­ins will more than double its busi­ness in Germany, Harper­Coll­ins Germany announ­ced. Gräfe und Unzer, which has been part of the Ganske publi­shing group in Hamburg since 1990, can look back on more than 300 years of publi­shing history and is argu­ably the market-leading guide­book publisher in Germany with successful best­sel­ling authors, a strong content pool and high brand aware­ness. “Gräfe und Unzer has an impres­sive publi­shing history, excep­tio­nal authors, books and brands, and has itself become a great brand that is trus­ted by gene­ra­ti­ons of readers. We are proud to welcome Gräfe und Unzer under the umbrella of the Harper­Coll­ins publi­shing group and look forward to shaping the future of the publi­shing house toge­ther with our colle­agues,” said Jürgen Welte, publisher and CEO of the Harper­Coll­ins Germany publi­shing group.

Advi­sor Harper­Coll­ins: Addle­shaw Goddard (Hamburg)

Dr. Huber­tus Schrö­der, Foto (Lead; Corporate/M&A), Manuela Finger (IP) Chris­tian Lang (Corporate/M&A; both Munich), Dr. Jan-Oliver Schrotz (Regu­la­tory), Jens Peters (Employ­ment); Asso­cia­tes: Fabian Neppe­ßen (Lead; Corporate/M&A), Dr. Theresa Rött­ger (Corporate/M&A and Regu­la­tory), Alex­an­dra Rose (Regulatory/Competition) Lars Schön­wald (IP; Munich) Inhouse Recht (Bris­tol): Tobias Hirst (Head of Legal Europe, Japan and Brazil)
Roser (Hamburg): Martin Aisen­brey (Tax) — known from the market

Advi­sor Ganske Publi­shing Group: Kümmer­lein (Essen)

Dr. Sebas­tian Longrée (lead; Corporate/M&A), Dr. Daisy Walzel (compe­ti­tion and anti­trust law), Dr. Jana Benzel (Corpo­rate), Jona­than Monz (employ­ment law); Asso­cia­tes: Dr. Patric Sonder­mann (lead; Corporate/M&A), Johanna Pila­tus (M&A), Eva Sand­küh­ler (M&A), Roland Stem­pel­mann (IP/IT)
Inhouse Recht (Hamburg): Sven Grono­stay (Gene­ral Coun­sel) Mazars (Tax) — known from the market