Allen & Overy has advised international academic publisher Brill on the successful acquisition of the publishing houses Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink, including the imprint Konstanz University Press. The transaction was effected by way of an asset deal.

The acquired publishing houses, both with registered office in Germany, have been family-owned since 1847 and 1974, respectively, and report an annual turnover of more than EUR 3 million. The acquisition will strengthen Brill's programme in particular in History, Theology, Literature and Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Philosophy.  The publishing list comprises a catalogue of 5,500 books, more than 300 new titles per year and seven journals.

Brill was founded in Leiden, Netherlands, in 1683 and is one of the leading international academic publishers in more than 20 subject areas. The publishing house, with its head office in Leiden and branch offices in Boston and Singapore, publishes 265 journals and about 900 new books and reference works every year, available both in print and electronic form. Brill also markets a large number of primary source research collections and data bases in digital format. The company's key customers are universities, research institutes, libraries and scientists. Brill is a publicly traded company listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

The Allen & Overy team comprised partner Dr. Hans Schoneweg, senior associates Daniel Martin Schulz (transaction management, both corporate/M&A), Sören Seidel (employment and benefits, all Hamburg) and Miray Kavruk (IP, Düsseldorf).