Leon D. Black, a well-known money manager has acquired art book publisher Phaidon Press Limited from Richard Schlagman in a deal whose terms were not disclosed.
“We have greatly admired Phaidon and the important contribution the Company has made to art and culture,” explained Black in a statement. “We are impressed with how Richard Schlagman has built the business and the Phaidon brand under his ownership over the last two decades. My family and I look forward to supporting the future growth of the Company, including through the ongoing development of its publishing program, further geographic expansion, and the launch of digital products.”
According to the company’s website, Phaidon was founded in Vienna in 1923 by Dr Bela Horowiz and Ludwig Goldscheider with the idea of creating high-quality inexpensive art books. Having moved to England during World War II, the company made its name publishing large format art books and children’s art books including The Story of Art, which has sold more than 8 million copies in 16 languages. Encyclopedia Britannica owned the company briefly in the sixties and it changed hands a number of times in the seventies and eighties before Schlagman acquired the company in 1990.