 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Egmont Group" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Formerly | P. Petersen, Printers (1878–1914) Gutenberghus Group (1914–1992) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Media group |
| Founded | 1878; 147 years ago (1878) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Founder | Egmont H. Petersen [da] |
| Headquarters | , Denmark |
Key people | Steffen Kragh (President &CEO) Steen Riisgaard (Chairman) |
| Products | Books,Magazines,Film,Cinemas,Interactive media,Television |
| Revenue |  €2,073 million[1] (2021) |
| €256 million[1] (2021) | |
| €224 million[1] (2021) | |
| Total assets | €2,500 million[1] (2021) |
| Total equity | €1,098 million[1] (2021) |
Number of employees | 5,376[1] (2021) |
| Divisions | See§ Egmont divisions |
| Website | www |
TheEgmont Group (officiallyEgmont International Holding A/S; known asGutenberghus Group until 1992) is a Danishmediacorporation founded and rooted inCopenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishing, but has over the years evolved to comprisemass media generally.
The Egmont Group was founded by Egmont Harald Petersen in 1878,[2] as a one-man printing business, but soon became a magazine business. It was originally called "P. Petersen, Printers", named after Petersen's mother, as he was still too young at the time to register his own company. The company was renamedGutenberghus in 1914 (after the famous inventor of the printing press), a name it kept until 1992.
In 1948, Gutenberghus, looking for new opportunities, sent its editorDan Folke toWalt Disney Productions, and he managed to acquire a license for publishing comic magazines in Scandinavia. In 1948, the company started to publish aDonald Duckcomic magazine inSweden (asKalle Anka & C:o) andNorway (asDonald Duck & C:o), in 1949 also inDenmark (asAnders And & C:o). This magazine features all the well known Disney characters, fromMickey Mouse toLittle Hiawatha under license fromDisney.
With the acquisition in 1963, of the Danish publisherAschehoug, Egmont also entered the book market. From the late 1980s the Egmont Group used the close connection with Disney to expand their Scandinavian focus to a global focus, being the producer of Disney for the new Eastern European market, as well as for the Chinese market. In 1991, Egmont was co-founder of theNorwegiantelevision channelTV 2, before buying it outright in 2012.
In 1992, Egmont boughtNordisk Film. In 1997, Egmont acquiredSemic Press. In 1998, Egmont acquired the children's book catalogue ofReed Elsevier.[3] In 2008, they acquired the minority stake in magazine publisher Hjemmet Mortensen which they did not already hold, fromOrkla ASA.[4]
In September 1999, Egmont Group entered a joint venture with Munich-based German production & distribution companyEM.TV & Merchandising to launch a publishing subsidiary that could bring EM.TV's productions under one roof named Junior.Publishing.[5]Egmont Group would later acquire the remaining 50% of the joint-venture children's publishing company Junior.Publishing two years later in November 2001 when EM.TV announced their exiting of the publishing business in order for them to focus on their core entertainment business giving Egmont full control of Junior.Publishing having it renamed to Egmont Publishing.[6]
Egmont has a number of local country branches: Australia, Bulgaria (Egmont Bulgaria), China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany (Egmont Ehapa), Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
Egmont is one of Scandinavia's leading media groups producing weeklies, magazines, comics, books, educational materials, activity products, movies and TV programs. The media group also operates movie theatres and TV stations, and the Egmont name is behind interactive games, game consoles, music and a wide range of digital media. Egmont publishes media in more than 30 countries, has over 5,300 employees and generated revenue amounting to over €2 billion in 2021.[1]
By August 2002, Egmont Group entered a major restructure had it's entertainment distribution division Egmont Entertainment merged into its film & television production companyNordisk Film with former Egmont Entertainment header Kenneth Plummer became Nordisk Film's new managing director with Nordisk Film will handle all of Egmont's film & television production activities as Soren E. Jakobsen stepped down as film chief of the latter but would continued to work Egmont's television interests.[7] Six days later following the restructure and merger of Egmont Group's entertainment division Egmont Entertainment with their film & television production and distribution company Egmont Group shuttered their animation international production arm Egmont Imagination and had most of Egmont Imagination's projects being absorbed into Egmont's multimedia entertainment, film & television production and distribution companyNordisk Film.[8]The following year in March 2003, Dutch production & distribution companyTelescreen alongside its parentPalm Plus Multimedia acquired the Egmont Imagination catalogue outside the Nordic regions from Egmont Group with Telescreen distributing the Egmont Imagination library internationally except the Nordic regions.[9]
Egmont acquired Forma Publishing Group in October 2014.[10] In January 2015, the company shut down its American publishing division.[11]
On 1 May 2020, Egmont completed the sale of three of its publishers (Egmont Books UK, Egmont Poland, and Schneiderbuch Germany) toHarperCollins.[12]
Egmont UK publishes books and magazines for children in theUnited Kingdom. It is the largest dedicated children's publisher in the UK. The Head Office is in London. In May 2020, the books division of Egmont UK was sold toHarperCollins. The new imprint changed its name to Farshore in February 2021.
In 1998,Reed Elsevier soldDean & Son,World Distributors, and the children's divisions ofHeinemann,Methuen,Hamlyn and Mammoth to the Egmont Group.[3][13]
Egmont UK's book list includesfiction novels, illustratedpicture books, pop-up and novelty books,fantasy adventures, annuals, colouring, activity and sticker books as well and Egmont's ownReading Ladder (for five- to nine-year-olds). Egmont also has a number ofyoung adult fiction works, award-winners, classics and epic tales.
TheFiction list includes work from such award-winning authors asAndy Stanton,Jim Smith,Michael Morpurgo,Lemony Snicket,Jamila Gavin andDavid Levithan.Electric Monkey is Egmont's dedicated Young Adult imprint and authors published includeElizabeth Acevedo,Michael Grant,Andrew A. Smith,Tahereh Mafi and Holly Jackson.
ThePicture Book list includes work from authors such asJulia Donaldson,Kristina Stephenson,Michael Morpurgo andJohn Dougherty (author). Classic stories published by Egmont UK includeThe Velveteen Rabbit,The Little Prince andThe Wind in the Willows. Authors on the non-fictionRed Shed imprint includeChris Packham andLaura Coryton.
Illustrators who are published by Egmont includeHelen Oxenbury,Shirley Hughes, Jim Field,Rob Biddulph, Steven Lenton,Alex T. Smith and Colin and Jacqui Hawkins.
TheBrands & Licensing books list includes titles from the following brands:
Egmont offers a range ofPersonalised books through their website.
TheDean imprint (Dean & Son) offers consumer-led, bespoke publishing direct to retailers.
In 1991, Egmont purchased theFleetway arm ofIPC Media in theUK from a company owned byRobert Maxwell, and merged it with their existing comics publishing division, London Editions, and thus became Britain's largest comic book publisher. The resultant company, Fleetway Editions, was absorbed into the main Egmont brand by 2000, having largely divested itself of its original portfolio (such as2000 AD) and continued with only reprint and licensed material titles (e.g.Sonic The Comic). TheFleetway archive comprises those comics characters first published byIPC subsidiaries on or after 1 January 1970, together with 26 specifically named characters first published inBuster before that date.[14] In August 2016, The IPC/Fleetway library was sold toRebellion Developments, who had previously acquired 2000 AD.[15][16]
Egmont Magazines currently publish titles includingToxic,Thomas & Friends,Disney Princess,Frozen,Minecraft, andGo Girl.
Egmont has a charitable wing. The founder's last will and testament paved the way for Egmont's charitable work to support social, cultural and scientific causes. As a foundation, Egmont helps improve children's and young people's quality of life, donating more than 235 million Euros to social, cultural and health projects since 1920.[citation needed]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
