Belgian bookseller Standaard Boekhandel has acquired Standaard Uitgeverij, the country’s leading comics publisher, reuniting two companies whose histories have been intertwined for more than a century.
The takeover, reported by financial daily De Tijd, marks a new chapter in a long shared past that dates back to the creation of the De Standaard media group in 1914.
While Standaard Boekhandel became an independent retail chain in 1924 and Standaard Uitgeverij was spun off as a separate company in 1967, both firms now come together again after decades of separate ownership and expansion.
Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. In a joint statement, the companies stressed that they will continue to operate independently, with their identities, services and existing partnerships in the wider book sector remaining unchanged.
Standaard Boekhandel, headquartered in Sint-Niklaas, operates around 180 stores across Belgium, employs some 500 people and records roughly 10 million purchases annually.
Antwerp-based Standaard Uitgeverij has about 50 employees and sold approximately 4.3 million books and comics in 2024. The publisher dominates the Dutch-language comics market, with an estimated 85 percent market share and around 725 new titles each year.
According to the companies, the acquisition aims to strengthen their local roots and position books as a key source of both information and imagination in an increasingly competitive media landscape.
Advisers on the transaction included Level Next and Deloitte.
