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Bertelsmann has acquired digital media agency Smashing Ideas, with the aim of beefing up Random House Inc's digital offerings. The terms of the acquisition were not made public.
Smashing Ideas helps produce digital content primarily aimed at young people: last year it launched an ePublishing unit and has already developed with the Random House Children's Books division two apps, Wild About Books and Pat the Bunny. Within Random House, Smashing Ideas will be focused particularly in the children’s, educational, lifestyle, and reference areas, as well as on working with Random House publishers to develop new content solutions for the mobile and online marketplaces.
The agency will continue to operate independently out of its Seattle headquarters, as well as its UK office, primarily focusing on its current and future client businesses.
Markus Dohle, chief executive of Random House Worldwide, said: "Bertelsmann, Random House, and Smashing Ideas are a great fit creatively and culturally, as our recently begun partnership has demonstrated to us. We are driven to create value for authors, brands, and clients, and the opportunity to do so together, through broad-based digital development of innovative and interactive engagement with consumers and readers, is enormously appealing to us. We intend to provide our new Smashing Ideas colleagues with abundant resources to help them grow as a profit center, as well as a creative force."
Stephen Jackson, president and c.e.o. of Smashing Ideas, added: "We look forward to collaborating on the building of next-generation digital businesses while we continue to build the Smashing Ideas clients base."