Quarto (LSE: QRT.L), the world's leading global illustrated book publisher and distribution group, today announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Sharjah based Kalimat Group for Arab language books.

Imprints from around Quarto’s publishing businesses will supply titles to the joint venture that will publish and distribute them throughout the Middle East and North Africa from early 2017.

The new joint venture will publish under the Kalimat Quarto imprint starting in cookery, a new category of publishing for Kalimat Group. Other categories, including children’s books, are envisaged as the co-operation grows.

Quarto and Kalimat see great scope for developing the market for illustrated non-fiction in the UAE and the larger Arabic speaking world. Currently this category is dominated by English language imports, which excludes a huge potential readership as English proficiency in the Arabic speaking world is still low.

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group, said, "This partnership represents an exciting opportunity for Kalimat Group to expand its offerings in what is a new segment of publishing for the house. Kalimat Group has led the illustrated book field in other categories with its offerings garnering a number of prestigious international awards. We are delighted to be able to bring the group’s talents in narrative illustration to a new line in book publishing and intend to build upon our incipient relationship with Quarto to take our organisation to new heights."

Marcus Leaver, Chief Executive of Quarto, said, " Our stated intention to develop our business internationally sees a further iteration in the Arabic speaking world. A partnership with such a pioneering publisher as Kalimat Group and the launch of Kalimat Quarto is exciting and raises the bar yet again for further partnerships in other territories."
Source:WAM