RBMedia
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Audiobook publishing |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founder | Shamrock Advisors |
| Headquarters | Landover , United States |
Area served | International |
| Products | Audiobooks |
| Owner | H.I.G. Capital and Francisco Partners |
| Website | rbmediainc |
RBMedia is an international audiobook publisher headquartered in Landover, Maryland, recognized as the largest audiobook publisher worldwide.
Established in 2017 through the acquisition of various independent audiobook firms, RBMedia's portfolio features imprints such as Recorded Books, Tantor Media, HighBridge Audio, ChristianAudio, Gildan Media, W.F. Howes, Wavesound, and GraphicAudio.
Operating studios in New York alongside other locations, RBMedia maintains facilities close to the former headquarters of Recorded Books. The company was initially formed by Shamrock Advisors and managed under Kohlberg Kravis Roberts ownership before being purchased in September 2023 by H.I.G. Capital and Francisco Partners.
Recorded Books
Recorded Books, which represents the original "RB" in RBMedia’s name, was founded in Maryland in 1978 and was a trailblazer in producing unabridged audiobooks. It became a division of Haights Cross Communications following its acquisition in 1999.
After acquiring HighBridge Audio from Workman Publishing, Recorded Books went on to purchase Tantor Media in January 2015. Later that same year, Shamrock Advisors, a private equity firm, acquired Recorded Books.
RBMedia
RBMedia was established in April 2017, consolidating imprints including Recorded Books, HighBridge Audio, Tantor Media, ChristianAudio, Gildan Media, W.F. Howes (UK), and Wavesound (Australia). The company distributed or sold titles directly to consumers through Audiobooks.com, libraries, and resellers such as Audible.
In the month of its inception, RBMedia acquired Audiobooks.com, which expanded its presence into the UK market six months afterward. By September 2017, RBMedia had acquired Gildan Media, a publisher specializing in business literature.
In July 2018, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), a private equity firm, took ownership of RBMedia from Shamrock Advisors.
March 2020 marked RBMedia’s acquisition of GraphicAudio, known for its immersive full-cast audiobook productions featuring notable franchises like Marvel Comics and DC Comics as well as authors such as Brandon Sanderson and R. A. Salvatore. Three months later, RBMedia divested its library assets—including RBDigital—to OverDrive, another KKR portfolio company, thereby consolidating KKR’s holdings in digital media.
In March 2021, RBMedia expanded by acquiring Barcelona-based audiobook publisher Booka and rebranded it as BookaVivo. Two months later, it secured McGraw-Hill Professional’s audiobook division along with exclusive rights to future releases and the entire existing catalog.
August 2021 saw the introduction of Ascent Audio, a business-focused audiobook imprint combining titles from Gildan Media and McGraw-Hill Professional to create what it claims is the largest business audiobook collection globally.
Following the sale of Audiobooks.com to Storytel for $135 million in December 2021, RBMedia purchased Author’s Republic—a self-publishing platform—and its traditional audiobook subsidiary Novel Audio. In January 2022, RBMedia entered the German market by acquiring audiobook publisher ABOD under the RBmedia Verlag brand.
In 2023, ownership of RBMedia transitioned from KKR to H.I.G. Capital and Francisco Partners.