Two iconic and market leading brands, Nursery World and PrintWeek, are in the process of being acquired by the Mark Allen Group (MAG), one of the most successful independent publishing companies in the country.

The fortnightly Nursery World has, since its foundation in 1925, been at the heart of early years education, ensuring young children have the best start in life. It is being acquired by MA Education and will sit alongside other early years titles in the company, including Early Years Educator (EYE) and Practical Pre-School (PP-S), as well as PP-S’s and Hopscotch books’ division.

Other titles within MA Education include the weekly newspaper for secondary teachers, SecEd, and the primary school magazines, Primary Teacher Update and Headteacher Update.

Ben Allen, the company’s chief executive, said: “This is a brilliant acquisition for us. It will give us a dominant position in early years publishing and reinforce our commitment to the education market.”

Similarly, the weekly PrintWeek, which is being bought by MA Business and Leisure, has an illustrious history that dates from its launch in 1958. Chairman Mark Allen said: “PrintWeek is a superb brand and our aim is to enhance its appeal as a more considered fortnightly. The print industry is going through some challenging times which we need to reflect by changing PrintWeek’s frequency from weekly to fortnightly. Once we have made this change, our view is that PrintWeek has a brilliant future.”

The staff will be relocated to MAG’s head office, St Jude’s church in Herne Hill, south east London.

MAG has acquired three other titles from Haymarket in recent years. These are: Independent Nurse, HR magazine and Children and Young People Now.

Mark Allen said: “We have been very successful with the previous Haymarket titles because, as a much smaller company, we can extract maximum value and publish with the passion and commitment with which we are associated. We believe we will be equally successful with Nursery World and PrintWeek and we greatly look forward to having these brands within our group.”

Jane Macken, MD of Haymarket Business Media, said: “Whilst I am very sorry to see such fantastic brands and talented people leave HBM, I am confident that the Mark Allen Group offers a real strength of opportunity for both brands. There are obvious synergies within their portfolio for Nursery World, in the early year’s sector. For PrintWeek, the group can offer increased focus and commitment for PrintWeek in the UK. The sale of the titles allows HBM to concentrate on its core markets in line with the company’s group growth strategy.”