Fox Williams advised Zed Books Limited on the sale of substantially all of its publishing business, including Zed Books and Zed Scholar, to worldwide publishing house Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for £1.75m.
Zed is a UK-based publisher known for its publication of political books and critical research in fields including African and development studies. The acquisition by Bloomsbury, which completed on 19 March 2020, will help to secure the long-term future and development of the Zed list, as well as increasing its global reach. Fox Williams previously advised the founder and chairman of I B Tauris (the Middle East and political publishing specialist) on its sale to Bloomsbury (please click here) and the combined lists of Zed and I B Tauris have significantly enhanced Bloomsbury’s Politics and International Relations offering.
Corporate partner and head of publishing and digital media, Mary Elliott led the Fox Williams team which consisted of Emma Bailey (tax partner) and Bethany Silkin (corporate associate), with intellectual property advice provided by partner Simon Bennett.
Bloomsbury were represented by Slaughter and May LLP.