The Quarto Group

The Quarto Group
Traded as LSE: QRT
Founded 1976 (as The Quarto Group)
Founders Bob Morley, Michael Jackson, Laurence Orbach[1]
Country of origin United Kingdom
Headquarters location Islington
London
Revenue Increase $ 188.4 million (2016)
Official website www.quarto.com

The Quarto Group (LSE: QRT) is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the US and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Their mission is to “make and sell books that entertain, educate and enrich the lives of adults and children around the world.”[2] Quarto creates and owns proprietary content, publishing books from a diverse portfolio of imprints that are “creatively independent” and develops long-lasting content across specific niches of interest. Quarto sells books across 50 countries and in 39 languages through a variety of traditional and non-traditional channels. Quarto employs over 400 people in 11 offices in London, Brighton, Bristol, New York City, Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle, California, Hong Kong and Sydney.

The group was established by co-founders Laurence Orbach and Robert Morley and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1986.[3] Laurence Orbach was Chairman and CEO until November 2012, when he was replaced as Chairman by Tim Chadwick and Marcus Leaver as CEO.[4]

History

The Quarto Group was founded by Bob Morley, Michael Jackson and Laurence Orbach in the early 1970s and was finally established as The Quarto Group in 1976.[5] In 1986, Quarto listed on the London stock exchange.[6]

By the late 1990s, Quarto had acquired three new imprints, Rotovision, Book Sales Inc and Rockport Publishers and founded another four imprints, Quarto Children's Books, Quintet and Aurum Press that published health, lifestyle and children’s books. The group expanded further in the US – with the addition of Book Sales, Rockport Publishers, Walter Foster, Creative Publishing International, Motorbooks, and more recently, Cool Springs Press. In the UK, Quarto grew by acquiring Jacqui Small, Frances Lincoln and Wide Eyed Editions.[7][8].[7][8] By the 2000s, The Quarto Group had increased imprints and genres, along with this, a steady increase in its share value.[9] In August 2011, The Quarto Group acquired independent UK book publisher Frances Lincoln for £4.5 million.[9]

In 2012, Marcus Leaver took over from Laurence Orbach as Group CEO [10] and in the same year, the group made a profit of $11.4 million (£7.3 million) on revenue of $181 million (£116 million).[11] Since then, the group has pursued a stated strategy of growing both organically and through judicious acquisitions, while constantly focusing on operational efficiencies.

With increasing profit, 2013 saw a restructure of The Quarto Group by creating and renaming four distinct businesses:[12] Quarto Publishing UK, Quarto Publishing US, Quarto Publishing International Co-editions and Books & Gifts Direct. By 2014, the group had started two new children's imprints: Wide Eyed Editions and words & pictures,[13] and acquired small world creations[14] This helped the increase in share price by 60% since 2010.[14] This helped the increase in share prices by 60% since 2010.[15] In 2015 Quarto acquired Ivy Press and Ivy Kids for £1.5m and continued its expansion [16]

In 2017, Quarto implemented a new organizational structure, moving away from geographic business divisions and encouraging imprints to be run as independent businesses with creative, commercial and financial oversight from the centre. The group has established a central platform that includes finance, operations, sales, marketing and foreign rights sales and that services all 48 imprints.[17]

That same year, Quarto sold its last two non-publishing businesses – Books & Gifts Direct (Australia/New Zealand) and Regent Publishing Services (Hong Kong) – and is now solely focused on its core publishing expertise.[18]

International Publishing Partnerships

The Quarto Group has launched a number of foreign-language imprints through international partnerships with foreign publishers. These include:

Quarto Editora The Quarto Editora imprint was launched in Brazil in 2014 through an international publishing partnership with Brasil Franchising and their publishing business Editora Nobel. Quarto Editora publishes in categories such as cookery, beauty and self-help. Nobel Editora distributes the books through its franchises and main book trade channels. Kalimat Quarto Kalimat Quarto was launched in 2016 as an international publishing partnership with Sharjah-based Kalimat Group. The imprint publishes books in Arabic and distributes them throughout the Middle East and North Africa.[19]

Quarto Iberoamericana Announced in May 2017, Quarto Iberoamericana is Quarto's Spanish language imprint launched in partnership with Argentina-based publisher Catapulta Editores S.L. The imprint publishes 20 books a year with the first six books, launching in Autumn 2017, in adult categories such as cookery, lifestyle and spirituality. Catapulta Editores will be responsible for sales and distribution in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Quarto is expected to announce more partners to distribute the books in the rest of Latin America and North America in the near future.[20]

Imprints

References

  1. ↑ "The Quarto Group (UK): The Quarto Story". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "The Quarto Group, Inc. | About Us". The Quarto Group About. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "The Quarto Grp Inc.". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Orbach removed as Quarto director". The Bookseller. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Return and Declaration Delivered for Registration by Oversea Company (UK): beta.companieshouse.gov.uk". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Quarto Grp Inc.". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Analyst Research Report Snapshot". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Page, Benedicte (January 25, 2013). "Aurum Publishing Group Created". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Neill, Graeme (16 August 2011). "Quarto Snaps-up Frances Lincoln". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Directors & Dealings". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Farringdon, Joshua (12 March 2013). "Quarto Looks to Cut Debt After 2012 revenue fall". Bookseller. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Farringdon, Joshua (12 March 2013). "Quarto Looks to Cut Debt After 2012 revenue fall". Bookseller. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  13. ↑ Eyre, charlotte (16 October 2014). "Quarto predicts annual profits 122m". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Eyre, charlotte (4 April 2014). "Williams made Frances Lincoln publisher". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  15. ↑ Lee, John (2 February 2015). "Two Chief Executives Who Could make a Big Impact". The Financial Times. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Farringdon, Joshua (25 February 2015). "Quarto buys Ivy Press for £1.3m". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  17. ↑ Millot, Jim (24 April 2017). "Quarto Group Restructures Sales and Marketing". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  18. ↑ Campbell, Lisa (24th March2017). "Quarto disposes of Regent Publishing Services for $7m". The Bookseller. Retrieved 11 May 2017. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ↑ Exchange, Stock (14 April 2016). The Stock Exchange http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/QRT/12776737.html. Retrieved 11 May 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ Cowdry, Catherine (26 April 2016). Quarto launches Spanish language imprint: Quarto Iberoamericana http://www.thebookseller.com/news/quarto-launches-new-spanish-language-imprint-quarto-iberoamericana-542921. Retrieved 11 May 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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