Hoboken-base Wiley announced Tuesday it acquired Emerald Publishing Limited from Cambridge Information Group (CIG). The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately USD $452 million.
The acquisition significantly expands Wiley’s academic footprint, growing its global journal portfolio to approximately 2,500 titles. It also establishes the publisher as a definitive category leader across the social sciences, with particular emphasis on economics, business, finance, accounting and management. Beyond traditional publishing scale, the transaction strategically deepens Wiley’s library of proprietary content to leverage in the rapidly expanding AI and data analytics sectors.
“Emerald represents an outstanding strategic fit for Wiley – a complementary portfolio, a compatible culture, and decades of specialized content that will meaningfully expand our scale and portfolio depth in both research publishing and research intelligence,” Matthew Kissner, Wiley president and CEO said. “This transaction reflects our conviction that research and AI are mutually reinforcing: our proprietary content and data fuels AI, and AI accelerates the pace of publishing.”
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in the United Kingdom, Emerald Publishing has built a reputation as a premier global scholarly publisher. The company’s portfolio features nearly 500 journal brands, more than 8,000 book titles, and a vast repository of backfile content and academic case studies.
Integrating Emerald’s catalog strengthens Wiley’s market position across a diverse spectrum of academic fields. In addition to core business and finance sectors, the acquisition bolsters Wiley’s offerings in education, engineering, information and knowledge management, operations, public policy, and environmental management.
“Joining Wiley gives us the best-in-class platform, an extended global footprint, and further reach into academic and corporate markets to drive real-world impact,” Vicky Williams, CEO of Emerald said. “We are excited to join Wiley and build on their exceptional foundation for growth, innovation, and integrity.”
Andy Snyder, CEO of Cambridge Information Group, echoed the sentiment, noting that Wiley possesses the requisite scale, capabilities, and strategic vision to further expand Emerald’s reach and influence across the global research community.
