Bloomsbury to buy Tottel for £9.96m

Book publisher Bloomsbury has agreed to buy Tottel Publishing for £9.96m in cash on a debt free basis.Tottel, an independent professional and academic publisher in the UK and Ireland, will be renamed Bloomsbury Professional upon completion.For the 12 month period ended 28 February, Tottel generated revenue of £6.25m, operating profit of £0.93m and EBITDA of £1.19m.The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing."The acquisition of Tottel is a further and important step in the development of our academic and specialist publishing activities, with the added benefits that come from developing a robust presence in the professional sector," said chief executive Nigel Newton."Subscription-based businesses such as this are fundamentally sound, and these particular markets have significant online potential which we can help to unlock."