Mondadori is the top Italian publisher, leading the market of trade books and school textbooks market, where it operates through the Country’s most prestigious publishing houses and publishing trademarks, and one of the major players in the retail segment, thanks to a widespread network of bookstores across the Country.
The Group is also the leading multimedia publisher, with a strong presence in the digital and social media segments, as well as a in the print magazine segment.
Trade books
Mondadori Libri S.p.A. is the Group company heading the activities in the Trade business unit of the Books Area:
editorial activities relating to the publication – both in paper and digital formats (e-books and audio-books) – of the fiction, non-fiction, children’s and miscellaneous works by the publishing houses, with which the Group holds a leadership position at national level, through the trademarks Mondadori, Giulio Einaudi Editore, Piemme, Sperling & Kupfer, Frassinelli, Rizzoli, BUR, Fabbri Editori, Rizzoli Lizard and Mondadori Electa. On 1 April 2022, these were joined by De Agostini Libri and, on 1 July 2022, Star Comics, Italy’s leading comic books publisher, specialised in the publication on the domestic market of the major international productions including, in particular, Japanese manga;
from 1 January 2023, following the purchase of an additional 25% to the 50% already held since May 2022, the company A.L.I – Agenzia Libraria International, operating in the distribution of books for third-party publishers, with a customer portfolio of more than 80 publishing houses, whose acquisition is functional to the vertical integration project along the book value chain;
art publishing where the Group operates under the Electa and Abscondita brands. The segment’s activities include publishing of works on art, architecture, exhibition catalogues, museum guides and sponsor books in art publishing, as well as the management of museum concessions and the organization of exhibitions and cultural events;
the publishing house Rizzoli International Publications, which operates on the US market with the Rizzoli, Rizzoli New York, Rizzoli Electa and Universe brands and with the Rizzoli Bookstore located in New York.
Our job, a publisher’s task, is that of putting the author in contact with the reader: by selecting the latter in order to offer him well-made and well-written books and to market them through all possible sales channels. This is precisely the goal and shared objective of all our publishing houses; in full respect of their independence, which, in publishing, remains a necessary condition.
Education books
Mondadori Scuola S.p.A. is the Group company heading the activities in the school textbooks and, to a lesser extent, university textbooks publishing, in the Books area.
The Mondadori Group covers the school textbooks segment through three publishing houses, Mondadori Education, Rizzoli Education and D Scuola, which produce textbooks, courses, teaching tools and multimedia content for every school level, from primary school to the first, middle and secondary schools and through to university. In addition to the traditional products in paper and digital formats, the Companies’ range in the Education Books area also includes lines on transversal topics, such as inclusion, guidance, STEM, civic education, environment and digital citizenship, with a view to offering students and teachers teaching resources and tools that can help strengthen basic skills, reduce school abandonment and innovate teaching generally, in line with the objectives of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) set for the educational system.
In that area, the Group boasts a leadership position, with an adoption share of 32.0% in 2023.
With our publishing houses we work alongside teachers and students, from primary school to university, with innovative and accessible teaching content and tools, which contribute to developing the next generation.
Retail
Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Mondadori Retail S.p.A., the Group manages the most extensive network of bookstores in Italy, with an 12.8% share in the books market at the end of 2023. With a widespread presence throughout the Country and a business proposition focused on books (which account for over 80% of revenue), the company operates in the physical channel with over 500 directly-managed stores or franchised stores, under the Mondadori Bookstore, Mondadori Megastore and Mondadori Point brands, on the web with the e-commerce site Mondadoristore.it; these formats are complemented by the bookclub formula.
The Mondadori Store network is a cultural resource nationwide with 500 bookstores, in Italy, and online with Mondadoristore.it and the bookclub formula. We’ve decided to increasingly focus our stores’ offer on books, the group’s core business. In this perspective, we’ve given more space to the catalogue in terms of variety and completeness. Additional products and services enrich the offer: music, games and stationery items alongside experience in entertainment, events and multi-channel services.
Media
Mondadori Media S.p.A. is the Group company that encompasses all businesses linked to the development of the brand media and digital activities taking a multichannel approach.
Traditional print activities include:
the publication of magazines and related advertising, as well as add-ons in conjunction with magazines;
subscription management activities for magazines and daily newspapers, both for the Group’s publications and those of third-party publishers, handled by Direct Channel. Added to this are services related to database management for third sector clients.
Digital activities include:
the complete management of leading websites and social profiles in the main vertical topics (Cooking, Health & Wellness, Feminine Gen Z, Young, Parenting, in addition to the newly acquired company Webboh, which manages a website and related social profiles aimed at the Young Generation) and the optimisation of the related advertising space through external advertising agencies;
the Social Agency business, in particular the talent agencies Zenzero and Power, which manage leading creators from the food and beauty & fashion worlds with the aim of developing their activities in the influencer marketing segment;
the MarTech cluster consisting of Adkaora, Hej! and, in Spain, Adgage, specialised in offering mobile advertising, proximity marketing, performance and conversational marketing solutions.
In 2023, the Mondadori Group retained its position as Italy’s top multimedia publisher:
in print with 13 titles and 9.0 million readers;
on the web with 12 brands and approximately 28.7 million average unique users per month;
in social media with a fan base at 30 June 2023 of over 86 million and around 100 profiles.
Our business model focuses on strong brands with significant multichannel development potential, with the aim of creating a balanced, attractive and sustainable portfolio and investing the resources generated by it in areas of high profitability, like the digital market, tech advertising, and the world of social media agencies.
Our brands respond to the interests and demands of an increasingly vast public, playing a leading role on social networks, where we can count on the collaboration of a team of creators, including top talents from Italy.
Corporate & Shared Services
The Corporate & Shared Service Area includes – besides the top management organizations – Parent Company functions providing services that cut across the different companies and business areas of the Group. The area therefore includes administration, planning and control, treasury and finance, IT, logistics, HR management and organization, legal and corporate affairs, management of Group purchasing, general services, communications and media relations.
Revenue comes mainly from consideration for services provided to subsidiaries and associates.
