Rizzoli Acquires Welcome Books

Rizzoli International Publications Inc. announced today that it has agreed to acquire the assets of Welcome Books. Inc. New York, New York, the publishing imprint of Welcome Enterprises. Now in its 20^th year, Welcome Books is a publisher of illustrated books in the fields of art, photography, food & wine, parenting, history, travel, pets and social & popular culture. Welcome Books began its publishing operations in New York in 1995, and is a world-renowned publisher of high quality illustrated books.

Welcome’s ground-breaking Little Big Book Series selling hundreds of thousands of copies; its spectacular photographic series covering locations as diverse as Napa Valley, India and Ireland as well as those accompanied by first-person interviews such as American Farmer, and the Alex-awarding winning Oxford Project; its “local and sustainable” culinary books such as Afield, Cooking With Italian Grandmothers, and Primal Cuts; and art books such as Artists in Love and China are among the close to 80 titles being transferred. Welcome has published dozens of revered writers (such as Leonard Cohen, Maya Angelou, Alice Waters, Christopher Cerf, Katrina Fried and Arianna Huffington) and photographers (Amy Arbus, Eric Meola, Galen Rowell, Peter Feldstein, Jon Ortner, Al Wertheimer, and Richard Berenholtz). The Company’s books have been published around the world, including French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, and Finnish editions.

Rizzoli plans to offer the Welcome Books list as a part of its comprehensive publishing program, while retaining the Welcome imprint and current ISBNs. All titles will continue to be sold and distributed domestically by Random House, and internationally by Rizzoli. Rizzoli Associate Publisher Jim Muschett will manage the acquired assets, revising and re-launching key titles, and publishing new books into the Welcome imprint, as a part of the Rizzoli and Universe programs.

Marco Ausenda, President and CEO of Rizzoli, and Managing Director of the International Illustrated Books Division at RCS Libri said, “We are pleased to bring Welcome into Rizzoli. This is an excellent fit for us. We believe there is great potential for increased exposure and sales for the list particularly overseas.   We expect the imprint to develop further and grow under our direction.”

Charles Miers, Rizzoli’s Publisher, states, “We are pleased to add Welcome’s range of enjoyable and well-priced books to our overall list. Their accessibility is appealing to everyone, and adds a very complementary dimension to our program.”

Lena Tabori, Welcome’s publisher commented, “My partners and I are thrilled. Welcome Books is now part of a renowned publishing house with an outstanding tradition and the resources to provide new opportunities to help these books reach additional markets.”

Rizzoli International Publications is a subsidiary of RCS Libri, the book-publishing arm of the Milan based RCS Media Group. RCS Libri includes among its companies the Italian publishers Rizzoli Bompiani, Fabbri, Sonzogno, Adelphi, and Marsilio. RCS Media Group operates in the daily newspapers, magazine, book, radio and new media sectors, and is the Italian publisher with the largest international presence with activities in Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the USA.