The private equity firm KKR has completed its sale of audiobook publisher RBmedia. In July, KKR said that it had reached an agreement to sell the company to the investment firm H.I.G. Capital for what the Wall Street Journal reported to be more than $1 billion.
The announcement of the closing of the transaction was accompanied by the news that H.I.G. joined with Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm specializing in technology and media-focused businesses, to finalize the deal. With this investment, H.I.G. and Francisco Partners, the announcement said, will support RBmedia “in the continued growth of the company’s vast catalog of spoken content and powerful distribution network that reaches millions of global listeners.”
Francisco Partners has a growing presence in the wider book publishing market. In 2021, it acquired both Vital Source, from Ingram Content Group, and Follett School Solutions, from the Follett Corp.
“We are excited to partner with H.I.G. to help usher in RBmedia’s next phase of growth as the audiobook industry continues to expand,” Matt Spetzler, partner and co-head of Europe at Francisco Partners, and Jason Brein, partner at Francisco Partners, in a joint statement. “Francisco Partners has extensive experience in audio and content publishing, technology and media and we believe audiobooks are at a positive inflection point.”
RBmedia has more than 66,000 audiobook titles and more than 300 employees. While KKR owned the publisher, RBmedia had five year of double-digit revenue growth, the private equity firm said.
