Two of the four owners of Helsinki Literary Agency merge as Siltala Publishing acquires Teos Publishing.
In the merger, Teos sells its publishing business to Siltala. Heikki Herlin, the majority owner of Teos, invests in Siltala, thus becoming one of the main owners of Siltala Publishing alongside its founders Touko Siltala and Aleksi Siltala.
The merger creates an independent, culturally and literarily ambitious alliance of two quality publishers, combining strong publishing expertise with a stable ownership base.
“Siltala and Teos both understand the book industry’s past and present. Together we will be able to influence its future. The joint publishing house will be able to address the needs of both readers and authors in the rapidly changing industry,” says Heikki Herlin, new partner of Siltala.
“In the alliance between Teos and Siltala, editorial ambition will be combined with a vision of the importance of literature and an understanding of the conditions of writers’ work. Heikki Herlin’s strong commitment and cultural determination will open up inspiring new perspectives in the joint development of the two publishing houses,” says publisher Touko Siltala.
Teos will remain an imprint of Siltala Publishing, and the merger will not affect the work of their authors.
Arto Forsten will continue as CEO of Siltala. Heikki Herlin, Jaakko Tapaninen and Nina Paavolainen, former CEO of Teos, will join Siltala as new members of the board.
Heikki Herlin (in the middle) has been the majority owner of Teos Publishing, founded in 2003.
In the merger, Herlin becomes one of the main owners of Siltala on the side of Touko and Aleksi Siltala.
(Photo: Johanna Haakana)
Siltala Publishing was founded in 2008 by brothers Touko and Aleksi Siltala. Siltala is the publisher of Finlandia Prize-winning authors such as Kari Hotakainen, Pirkko Saisio and Iida Rauma. Siltala is also the Finnish publisher of, for example, David Foster Wallace, César Aira, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Jonathan Franzen and George Saunders.
Teos Publishing was founded in 2003 by a team of publishing professionals, including the late Silja Hiidenheimo and Niklas Herlin. Its authors include Finlandia Prize-winning authors Juha Hurme, Riikka Pelo, Mikko Rimminen and Leena Krohn. Teos is the Finnish publisher of, for example, Hilary Mantel, Thomas Bernhard, László Krasznahorkai, Jorge Luis Borges and Clarice Lispector.
Helsinki Literary Agency was established in 2017 as a joint venture of publishing houses Gummerus, Schildts & Söderströms and Teos. Siltala became a shareholder in the agency in 2019.