Betty Crocker is moving.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said on Thursday that it had acquired the culinary portfolio of John Wiley & Sons, as well as its reference books, including the classic Webster’s New World Dictionary and CliffsNotes.
The cost of the transaction was not disclosed.
Wiley’s cooking portfolio includes the all-American Betty Crocker cookbook series and Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” franchise, which produces apps for other high-profile cookbook authors like Rose Levy Beranbaum, Marcus Samuelsson and Ellie Krieger.
Houghton said the acquisition would complement its current stable of writers and franchises, including Jacques Pépin and “The Gourmet Cookbook,” and reflects the publisher’s confidence in this market.
“Even as digital sales increase, the print cookbook segment shows particular strength, both at HMH and within the market in general,” Gary Gentel, president of Houghton’s Trade and Reference division, said in a statement.
Webster and CliffNotes, both with strong bases among students, are an obvious fit with the company’s other educational assets.