(Alliance News) - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC on Wednesday said it has bought Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group's academic publishing business for up to USD83 million.

Shares in the London-base publishing house were up 5.4% to 587.87 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

Rowman & Littlefield is a privately-owned independent publisher. It publishes more than 40,000 academic titles, with authors covering academic arts, humanities and social sciences.

"It is the biggest acquisition by Bloomsbury to date, and significantly accelerates and strengthens Bloomsbury's academic publishing in North America and Bloomsbury Digital Resources," Bloomsbury said.

The consideration is USD83 million, of which USD76 million has been on completion and up to USD7 million will be paid post completion.

Chief Executive Nigel Newton commented: "This acquisition is a game-changer for Bloomsbury. Rowman & Littlefield is one of the few independent US academic publishers of such scale and it is great that our discussions with Jed Lyons have led to this acquisition. Their 40,000 academic titles added to ours will make us a significant US academic publisher, growing Bloomsbury's academic and digital publishing presence in North America, opening new markets and publishing areas to Bloomsbury, and is a key milestone in the delivery of our long-term growth strategy."

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter

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