Storytel, one of the world’s largest streaming services for audiobooks and e-books, will acquire a 70 percent majority stake in the Swedish publishing house Bokförlaget Lind & Co (‘Lind & Co’). Kristoffer Lind will stay on as a 30 percent owner and CEO of Lind & Co, which will become an independent unit in Storytel Group following this transaction.
The publishing house Lind & Co was founded in 1999 by its CEO Kristoffer Lind. In recent years it has grown to become one of Sweden’s most successful publishing houses, covering popular genres including fiction, crime, thrillers, non-fiction and hobbies. Lind & Co has also established itself as a Swedish pioneer in digital publishing. Its most popular Swedish authors include Tove Alsterdal, the 2020 winner of the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy’s ‘Best Swedish Crime Novel’ award, as well as Björn Hellberg, May Grethe Lerum, Mikael Ressem and Dag Öhrlund, whose novel Ingen lämnas kvar (No-one is Left Behind) was the third most listened to book in Storytel’s Swedish service in 2019.
In 2020, Lind & Co reported sales of SEK 111 million with an operating profit of SEK 22.6 million. Its digital releases in 2020 included more than 600 titles in audiobook format and accounted for more than 50 percent of the publishing house’s revenues.
“It feels great to welcome Lind & Co to Storytel Group, particularly as Kristoffer and the company’s talented publishers so clearly share Storytel’s passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, and for making authors and stories accessible to readers and listeners anytime and anywhere. We’re happy and excited that Lind & Co is joining Storytel in our long-term investment in content, authors and production – and in the technological innovation that is expanding the book market and creating engagement and valuable experiences among our audience”, says Jonas Tellander, CEO and founder of Storytel.
With Storytel as the majority shareholder, Lind & Co will continue to develop new and existing authors as a unit within Storytel Group. Sweden is Lind & Co’s main market, but since 2018 and 2019 it has also been publishing books in the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Norway, which are also strong Storytel markets.
“Just like Lind & Co, Storytel is an entrepreneurial and dynamic force in the publishing industry, so this partnership is completely logical for us. International publishing is at the heart of our ambitions, so working with a strong, global company like Storytel has many benefits for us and opens up new opportunities. Storytel also has so much growth potential, as well as intellectual property rights, cutting edge digital technology and courage. I’m convinced this will make our authors relevant for an even larger audience with readers and listeners in even more markets”, says Kristoffer Lind, CEO of Lind & Co.
The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price which will not have a substantial impact on the Storytel Group’s finances. The purchase price will be paid partly in cash and partly through the issuance of shares in Storytel AB (publ). The closing is expected to take place in April 2021.
FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified adviser. FNCA can be reached at info@fnca.se or +46 8 528 00 399.
For interview requests and more information, please contact:
Dan Panas, Head of Global Communications & PR, Storytel.
Tel: +46 70 186 52 90
Email: dan.panas@storytel.com
About Storytel
Storytel is one of the world’s largest subscribed audiobook and e-book streaming services and offers listening and reading of more than 500 000 titles on a global scale. Our vision is to make the world a more empathetic and creative place with great stories to be shared and enjoyed by anyone, anywhere and anytime. Storytel’s streaming business is conducted under the brands Storytel and Mofibo. Storytel’s publishing business area is carried out through the audiobook publisher StorySide and acclaimed Nordic publishing houses such as Norstedts, People’s and Gummerus. Storytel operates in over 20 markets around the globe and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.