The Penguin Random House acquisition machine continues to roll on, with the world’s largest trade publishing announcing it has bought Wonderbly, one of the U.K.’s fastest-growing independent publishers. Founded in 2013 as Lost My Name, the publisher was rebranded as Wonderbly in 2017 and specializes in publishing personalized gift books. Since its launch, Wonderbly, which was acquired by private equity firm Graphite Capital in 2021, has sold more than 11 million books in over 140 countries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of PRH, Wonderbly will work closely with the company’s DK group, but continue to operate independently, “maintaining its entrepreneurial culture, brand identity, and leadership team,” the announcement said. Asi Sharabi, Wonderbly’s cofounder and CEO, will remain in his role and continue to lead the business from its London headquarters; there are no changes planned to Wonderbly’s operations in other locations.
Moving forward, PRH and Wonderbly “will collaborate on a range of new initiatives and publishing ventures designed at accelerating growth, expanding reach, and attracting new audiences,” per the acquisition announcement. PRH stressed that Wonderbly has “pioneered a direct-to-consumer publishing model” that blends proprietary technology with creative marketing, and print-on-demand production capabilities. It has released more than 150 personalized children’s and adult titles to date.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Wonderbly to Penguin Random House,” said PRH CEO Nihar Malaviya in a statement. “Asi and the Wonderbly team have built a remarkable company at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and thoughtful giving.”
Paul Kelly, CEO of DK, echoed Malaviya’s comments, noting that PRH and DK look forward to supporting Wonderbly’s expansion into new genres and publishing models, and to help grow its international reach.
This is PRH’s first acquisition this year affecting the U.S. market after acquiring three independent publishers in 2024.
