A magazine publishing house behind a number of craft, gardening, health and food titles has been snapped up by DC Thomson Media, the business behind the Beano brand.

Aceville Publications, which is based on Hawkins Road, Colchester, is home to more than 40 in-house brands, alongside a growing business-to-business portfolio. These include specialist craft, gardening, health and food publications such as Health & Wellbeing, Let’s Knit, Veggie, and Sew.

Dundee-based DC Thomson already has a portfolio of more than 20 magazines, including the Beano and over 60s

The acquisition of Aceville by DC Thomson Media creates a combined portfolio of about 70 magazines, as well as a number of digital properties and events.

Matthew Tudor, managing director at Aceville, said DC Thomson Media had a “great heritage and credibility in the publishing industry and I’m looking forward to working together to strengthen the combined portfolio.”

“DC Thomson Media holds some brilliant brands, and I’m confident the Aceville titles and expertise will complement this,” he added.

“The portfolios align brilliantly and bring real opportunity to improve content for all of our readers.”

Mike Watson, chief executive at DC Thomson Media, said the acquisition would “materially change our landscape and is a key step in our Protect, Launch, Diversify strategy.”