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 Bonnier Tower in Stockholm | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1804 (1804) in Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Headquarters | Stockholm ,Sweden |
Area served | Sweden |
Key people | Carl-Johan Bonnier (chairman)[1] Tomas Franzén (CEO)[2] |
| Products | Newspapers, books, magazines, television and film production, online retailers |
| Revenue |  US$4.097 billion(2013) |
| US$305 million(2013) | |
| US$227 million(2013) | |
Number of employees | 9,226 (2013) |
| Website | bonnier |
Bonnier AB (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈbʊ̂nːiːr]),[citation needed] also theBonnier Group,[3] is aprivately held Swedishmedia group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by theBonnier family.[4]
The company was founded in 1804[5] by Gerhard Bonnier in Copenhagen, Denmark, when Bonnier published his first book,Underfulde og sandfærdige kriminalhistorier. Gerhard's sons later moved to Sweden. The Bonnier book publishing companies in Sweden that are part of book publishing house Bonnierförlagen now includeAlbert Bonniers förlag,Wahlström & Widstrand, Forum, and Bonnier Carlsen, as well as other book publishers and imprints in Sweden. Bonnier Tidskrifter publishes magazines, includingVeckans Affärer,Damernas Värld,Amelia,Sköna hem,Teknikens Värld,Resume, nearly a dozencrossword magazines,[6] and the tablet magazineC Mode. Other subsidiaries include the film production companiesSF Studios andSonet Film; daily newspapersDagens Nyheter,Expressen,Sydsvenskan andHelsingborgs Dagblad;[7] business dailyDagens Industri; and medical journalDagens Medicin.
In Denmark, operations include magazine publisher Bonnier Publications, which has subsidiaries in Norway, Finland and Sweden; business dailyDagbladet Børsen; film distributorsSF Film and film producers SF Film Production.[citation needed]
Finnish operations include book publishersTammi andWSOY; plus magazines from Bonnier Publications and film productions by FS Film.[citation needed]
In Germany, Bonnier Media Deutschland includesUllstein Buchverlage,Piper Verlag, Thienemann Verlag andCarlsen Verlag, among others.[citation needed]
InMalta, Bonnier ownedEvoke Gaming Ltd.[8] This was divested in late 2017.[9]
In January 2007, the Bonnier Magazine Group acquired 18 magazines from the American media companyTime Inc. (at the time owned byTime Warner) and merged the operations with other publishing companies to create the U.S. basedBonnier Corporation.[10] As a result, Bonnier Corporation owns over 40 magazines, includingPopular Science,Saveur,Field & Stream,Outdoor Life andPopular Photography, a range of action sport magazines focused on motorcycling, as well as a number of niche travel and lifestyle titles.[11] Book publisher Weldon Owen was also part of the company. In 2013, Bonnier signed a deal withSource Interlink where they bought motorcycle franchisesDirt Rider,Motorcyclist,Sport Rider,Motorcycle Cruiser,Hot Bike,Baggers,Super Streetbike,Street Chopper andATV Rider, whereas they soldSound & Vision and the TransWorld franchise.
Bonnier's publishing in the United Kingdom has two main divisions: Igloo Books and Bonnier Books UK. A number of imprints operate within each division, most notably: Blink, Autumn Publishing, Hot Key Books,John Blake Publishing, Embla, Templar Publishing and Piccadilly Press,[12] Zaffre and Studio Press. In 2015, Bonnier UK acquired commercial fiction publisher Totally Entwined.[13] Weldon Owen UK and US was sold to Insight Editions in 2018.[14]
Former operations include Piccolia in France and Five Mile Press in Australia which have both been liquidated.
Bonnier Publishing USA was formed in August 2016, then composed of the publisher Weldon Owen and the children's publisher, Little Bee. The president of Little Bee, Shimul Tolia, became the CEO of this group.[15] Bonnier Publishing USA was sold to its management in 2019.[16]
Bonnier owns business newspapers in Estonia (Äripäev), Lithuania (Verslo žinios), Poland (Puls Biznesu) and Slovenia (Finance Business Daily), as well as medical journals in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, and Slovenia.
Bonnier is also behind several digital startups, including the tablet publishing platformMag+ and children's toy app producer,Toca Boca (sold in 2016 toSpin Master).
In 2017, the Bonnier Motorcycle Group bought theAMA EnduroCross Championship, an off-road motorcycling series. The group also promotes the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, HighPipe, Track Day Shootout, Adventure Rally Series and Hot Bike Tour. Also in 2017, Bonnier soldNordic Cinema Group toAMC Theatres.[17]
On 20 July 2018,Telia Company announced the proposed acquisition of theBonnier Broadcasting Group (which ownsTV4 AB,MTV Oy andC More Entertainment) from Bonnier.[18] The acquisition was completed on 2 December 2019.[19]
On 6 February 2020, Bonnier Books UK launched literary imprint, Manilla Press.[20] In October 2024, the UK division announced a restructuring with four imprints (Nine Eight, Heligo, John Blake and Black & White London) suspended.[21]
Bonnier is controlled by around 75[citation needed] descendants of three ofKarl Otto Bonnier's six children, with the largest owners beingÅke Bonnier andJonas Bonnier.[22]
In January 2007, the Bonnier Magazine Group agreed to acquire 18 magazines thatTime Inc. was divesting.[10] The estimated price was US$225 million in cash and the assumption of about US$42 million in unfulfilled subscription liabilities (subscriptions already paid but not yet delivered.) The magazines in the package employed 550 people and includedOutdoor Life,Popular Science,Field & Stream,Ski,Yachting, andTransworld Snowboarding, as well as 11 other titles that were part of Time Inc.'s Time4 Media Group. Also included wereParenting andBabytalk, which were part of the Parenting Group. That price was believed to be a multiple of about 11 timescash flow for a group that hadnet income of around US$20 million and revenue of around $230 million.
"We think we did a good deal, and we think Time did as well," saidJonas Bonnier, head of the Bonnier Magazine Group. Bonnier already had a small footprint in the US through a 50 percent stake inWinter Park, Florida-based World Publications, which owned the titlesIslands and Spa,Saveur,Water Skiing, andCaribbean Travel & Life.[23]
