Wiley Acquires Emerald for $452 Million

As reported by Jim Milliot for Publisher's Weekly, in a major deal in the academic journals sector, Wiley has acquired U.K.-based Emerald Publishing from Cambridge Information Group for £337 million ($452 million at current exchange rates), expanding Wiley’s journal portfolio to approximately 2,500 titles and increasing its position in the social sciences — particularly economics, business, and finance. As Milliot explains, in announcing the purchase Wiley observed that in addition to expanding its journal offerings, the acquisition better positions Wiley in the AI and data analytics space at a moment when demand for trusted peer-reviewed research content is accelerating rapidly as companies scale up AI models and applications. To date, Wiley has signed AI licensing agreements worth more than $100 million. According to Milliot, by the end of this year Wiley expects Emerald to generate more than $85 million of revenue with mid-single-digit revenue growth, 92% recurring subscription revenue, and 85% of revenue generated outside North America. Wiley also expects to realize approximately $30 million of cost savings over the next three years.

This news is generally relevant to faculty in the Turner College as Emerald's large journal portfolio now belongs to Wiley. So far, six of the Turner College's 77 journal publications that lie within the current AACSB reaccreditation cycle (2023-2028) appear in Emerald journals. Another six appear in Wiley journals, including the A*-rated Human Resource Management Journal. This news also more directly affects the Turner College given that Turner College economist Frank Mixon is the current editor of Emerald's Journal of Financial Economic Policy. This journal, which is rated by the Australian Business Deans Council as a B-journal, now belongs to Wiley, which is widely considered to be a more prestigious publishing house than Emerald. Stay connected for more on this story as it develops further.