RBmedia, one of the largest audiobook publishers in the world, has acquired Boldwood Books, a UK-based independent fiction publisher whose 2,000-title catalogue and 50 million books sold made it one of the fastest-growing indies in the trade. The deal closed on 31 July 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed (Publishing Perspectives).

Boldwood will become a publishing division of RBmedia but continue to operate as an independent business under its own brand. The arrangement preserves Boldwood's editorial identity while folding its list into a parent company whose core business is audio — a natural fit, given that Boldwood already publishes every new title simultaneously as an ebook, audiobook and print edition.

Founded in 2019 by CEO Amanda Ridout, Boldwood publishes more than 500 new titles a year across mystery, thriller, romance, women's fiction and historical fiction. Its revenue reached £8.4 million, as reported by Publishers Weekly. In 2025 the house swept two major UK trade prizes: Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards, and both Independent Publisher of the Year and Trade Publisher of the Year at the UK Independent Publishing Awards.

For RBmedia, whose CEO Michael Paull oversees a portfolio heavily weighted toward spoken-word content, the acquisition adds a proven print and ebook engine to its audio-first operation. Boldwood's practice of launching all three formats on the same day — a strategy that lets a single marketing push serve every retail channel at once — is relatively unusual among independents and has been central to the company's rapid growth since launch.

Boldwood has also signalled its intent to keep expanding. Its website announced sixteen new author signings in the wake of the acquisition, though no further details about those deals have been released (Boldwood Books).

Seven years from founding to a nine-figure-unit backlist is a steep trajectory for any independent. The question now is whether Boldwood's model — high-volume, multi-format, commercially focused fiction — scales further inside a corporate parent or whether the conditions that produced 50 million sales were easier to sustain as a standalone. RBmedia is betting on the former. The trade will watch the next list.