Hachette UK has acquired world rights to the literary estate of British children's author Enid Blyton, excluding her best known series, Noddy, from Chorion. Through the deal, which includes some 800 titles, Blyton's work will be overseen by Hachette's Hodder Children's imprint.
According to Hachette, more than 500 million copies of Blyton's books are in print, and she remains popular, as "one of the top 10 most borrowed authors." Hachette, which also took digital and dramatic rights in the deal, currently publishes a number of versions of Blyton titles, inclduing Famous Five and Secret Seven, since Hodder was the author's original publisher.
The sale comes amid Chorion moving a number of assets, including selling rights to its shareholding stake in Agatha Christie Limited.
