Batsford acquires Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers

B.T. Batsford Ltd is delighted to announce the acquisition of Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers and its subsidiary Scala Arts Publishers Inc. bringing together two companies with long and distinguished publishing histories.

Scala specialises in producing illustrated books for museums, galleries and heritage sites around the world, and in the United States under the wholly owned subsidiary Scala Arts Publishers Inc. Batsford is a niche illustrated publishing business and its subsidiary, Pitkin Books, partners primarily with cathedrals and UK based heritage sites.

The Scala and Batsford team gathered in the Batsford courtyard for a celebratory breakfast.

Polly Powell, owner of Batsford said: ‘The combined forces of Scala, Pitkin and Batsford make complete sense. Between them, they are the leading suppliers of guidebooks into the heritage industry. I have long been an admirer of Scala and I look forward to seeing how the businesses – both with high design and editorial strengths – complement each other over the next few years as we develop this side of our publishing. We are delighted to welcome Katie Channon to the board of B.T. Batsford as a non-Executive Director where her experience will be greatly valued across the wider business.’

Katie Channon, Director of Scala said: ‘I care passionately about the future of Scala, a company that my late husband Henry Channon championed for many years. I believe Batsford to be the perfect home for it, and I am excited to see how the business develops. I am delighted that MD Jenny McKinley, whose input over the many years has been invaluable, stays with the company until January. I am looking forward to working with the team, including MD David Graham, Chairman John Stachiewicz and Polly Powell at Batsford.’

The deal was brokered by Batsford MD, David Graham and Piers Russell-Cobb of MediaFund on behalf of Robin Howard and Scala’s Board of Trustees.