At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 CEO Talk, Núria Cabutí of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial and Chantal Restivo-Alessi of HarperCollins International discussed how the two publishing giants are addressing the industry's evolving landscape.

The executives found themselves in contrasting positions when it comes to expansion. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial has transformed itself through aggressive acquisitions, having purchased seven companies over the past decade. This has led to an increased market share from 7% to 25% across the nine countries the publisher operates in, catering to some 600 million Spanish and Portuguese speakers. "Right now, our strategy is trying to achieve as much visibility of our catalogs in all the countries where we operate," Cabutí said, noting the company is no longer actively looking to acquire competitors.

Restrevo-Alessi joked that PRH was like Pac-man before revealing that HarperCollins is itself in growth mode. Indeed, last November HC bought the German guidebook publisher Gräfe und Unzer and earlier this year acquired the France and Germany–based manga publishing operations of Crunchyrole. "We're interested in acquiring and layering extra types of content and segments and growing the scale of our operations because it gives us more stability, gives us more routes to market," Restivo-Alessi said.

Both executives attributed strong financial performances to an unexpected resurgence in physical books among younger consumers. Spanish Trade Association data shows reading for pleasure increased from 59% in 2012 to 65% in 2024, driven primarily by readers aged 14 to 25 and women. Spanish-language markets have posted 12 consecutive years of growth, with Spain's market increasing 10% in 2024 and growing 4.1% in the first half of 2025. Latin American markets including Mexico and Colombia are growing 5% to 15% annually.

"Younger consumers are very, very interested in the physical world," Restivo-Alessi said. "They spend their entire days scrolling, and it's very stressful. You want a moment of peace and quiet and the book the physical world gives you that."

Young readers are demanding increasingly sophisticated print editions with sprayed edges, gilded edges, and premium finishes. Cabutí pointed out that readers who consume content on platforms like Wattpad also purchase premium print versions, showing that digital and physical formats can coexist.

Physical booksellers retain outsized importance in both publishers' markets, particularly where fixed-price laws level competition with online retailers. In Spain and Latin America, traditional booksellers account for 45% of sales, with 90% of new book sales occurring in physical bookshops.

"Bookshops are a cultural force," Cabutí said, describing robust author event programs including the Sant Jordi festival in Catalonia, the Guadalajara Book Fair, and Buenos Aires Book Fair. Restivo-Alessi argued that physical retail's advantage lies in serendipitous discovery that algorithms cannot replicate. "The fact that you go into a bookstore and you went in for one book and you come out with three, two of which you had no idea before going in. That doesn't really happen in digital that much."

AI, backlist and other challenges

The publishers are taking divergent approaches to AI. In late 2024, HarperCollins completed an AI licensing deal believed to be with Microsoft that allows authors to opt in or out of having their works used for training. "I believe, first of all, that we need to protect our rights on behalf of our authors," Restivo-Alessi said. "I also believe if you want to protect your rights, you also need to create a viable monetization way for people to work with you."

Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is more cautious. "We believe in copyright and we want to protect the work of our authors," Cabutí said. "We are more for licensing models that should be sustainable for us as publishers and for our authors, but I think we need to try."

Both expressed skepticism about AI's immediate business impact. Cabutí cited an MIT study showing only 5% of corporate AI projects generated more revenue or reduced costs. "We have mixed feelings with AI. On the one hand, I think now, today we are in the hype moment. On the other hand, the AI dilemma is where to apply it and what's really effective."

Penguin Random House is focusing AI adoption on process improvement rather than creative applications. "Human creativity is not going to be surpassed by AI, at least in the short term," Cabutí said. "That's why we believe we need more than ever editors in place because there will be tons of content."

Restivo-Alessi advocated for proactive engagement. "I think you need to engage and involve and also endorse the uses where they make sense and where they don't make sense," she said, noting that smaller business units can adopt changes faster than larger organizations.

Both publishers view self-publishing platforms as content discovery channels rather than threats. Penguin Random House closed a strategic deal with Wattpad to publish Spanish content as physical books and has signed multiple bestselling authors who originated in self-publishing, including Javier Castillo and Mercedes Ron.

"For us, self-publishing is really a source of content," Cabutí said. "Our editors were looking at this and really found a way to attract them, give them an added value model."

HarperCollins pioneered digital-first publishing after acquiring Harlequin. "Self-publishing is an area for discovery. It's also an area of trying to develop publishing in a different way," Restivo-Alessi said.

Both executives emphasized backlist catalogs as publishers' most underappreciated asset, which are particularly relevant for AI-era content discovery. "The answer to AI that is most interesting to me is how we can reinvigorate and support the discovery of our backlist," Restivo-Alessi said. "If you look at other media where they got revalued by the investment community, it's when they demonstrated the value of their backlist: movies, music. We have hundreds of years of content that we can bring back to life."

Cabuti added, "A book that has not been read is a new book, so if it's backlist or frontlist, it doesn't matter. What we need is powerful promotions."

Both publishers are actively developing film, streaming, and gaming rights. HarperCollins operates a production entity that creates adaptations while representing authors. "We're not in the book industry. We're in the storytelling industry," Restivo-Alessi said.