Abacus will exploit the historic brand Eumo Editorial

BarcelonaThe imprint linked to the University of Vic, Eumo Editorial, will become part of Abacus Futur,, the second largest publishing group in Catalan, which already manages about fifteen imprints such as Ara Llibres, Viena, Navona, Arcàdia, La Casa dels Clàssics, Univers, and La Galera. According to what ARA has learned, the Fundació Universitària Balmes, which owns the publishing house (and also the University of Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya), has sought a solution to guarantee the company's continuity. "Abacus is the partner that best fits the brand," say sources from UVic-UCC. The agreement still needs to go through the foundation's governing body, but the operation is closed, to the point that the editors from both houses are already working hand in hand.

They define the form this agreement will take as a "brand exploitation." "No commercial operation is contemplated," they say from UVic-UCC. For now, they will continue to be the majority shareholder with 70% of the shares, but everything indicates that it could be the first step towards the absorption of the publishing house by Abacus. In practical terms, in fact, Eumo becomes part of the non-fiction area of Abacus Futur, although "it will continue to be an imprint with its own personality and editorial line," assures another of the agents involved, who speaks of the need to redefine Eumo's personality and focus on themes. Abacus's current philosophy is to publish fewer titles and ensure they reach the maximum number of readers. The editor Montse Ayats will continue to lead Eumo and will also be in charge of some non-fiction titles for Ara Llibres, a division managed by Joan Carles Girbés. Ayats and Girbés met at the helm of La Setmana del Llibre en Català in 2020.

The Abacus group, which at the beginning of this year announced a record turnover of 143 million euros for 2025, had already expressed its intention to acquire more publishing imprints, following the sector's trend towards editorial concentration. Eumo is going through a complex financial situation, with accumulated losses, and the three agents involved in the operation see this as a way to guarantee Eumo's viability and ensure the imprint continues to exist.

A benchmark in education

Eumo Editorial is a publishing house with nearly half a century of history and a reference in the educational field. It was founded in 1979, two years after the creation of the Escola Universitària de Mestres d’Osona, which would be the embryo of the Universitat de Vic. In 2011, Eumo already had to seek partners to improve its production and distribution, and finally it was Grup 62 who entered the publishing house by buying 50% of it. Shortly after, however, in 2013, Planeta took control of Grup 62 and Eumo saw its project fade within the publishing giant. That's why in 2015 the Fundació Universitària Balmes recovered 50% of the shares to regain editorial control and sought a new travel companion of similar size and philosophy to share logistics. At the end of that year, they sold 30% of the shares to the company Nou Grup Editorial which was formed by the Tarragona-based publisher Cossetània and the Manresa-based publisher Angle (today grouped under the platform La Finestra Lectora with Bindi Books and Capital Books). In the post-crisis years, Eumo had already undergone a restructuring process that shrunk it from a staff that had reached eleven people to two, a size it now maintains with Montse Ayats in direction, Gemma Medina in editing, and Júlia Blay in communication.

Eumo was born as a publishing house linked to UVic that wanted to serve as a stimulus and dissemination of research. It has several collections of university textbooks, books on didactics, translation, pedagogy, and school materials, in addition to publishing the poetry magazine poetry magazineReduccions. In recent years, it has also opened up to non-fiction for all audiences, with a very solid catalog focused on literary essays on history, education, philosophy, language, and contemporary debate. Since 1998 it has been directed by Montse Ayats, who has also been president of the Association of Publishers in Catalan Language (2016-2021), has contributed to the current success of La Setmana del Llibre en català (2013-2015), and has directed the National Book and Reading Plan (2022-2025).

For its part, Abacus Futur, the publishing branch of the Abacus cooperative, is the result of the sum of the imprints of Som/Cultura 03 (Ara Llibres, Amsterdam, La Casa dels Clàssics-Bernat Metge and Inuk) and those of Jaume Roures (Navona and Arcàdia), and the joint purchase in 2024 of part of the Enciclopèdia imprints after it went bankrupt (Viena, Univers, La Galera, Elastic Books, Rata, Bridge, Catedral, Ediciones Invisibles). They then estimated their market share in Catalan in Catalonia at 8%, as the second largest publishing group in Catalan in the country.