Otava

Otava was founded in 1890 by Hannes Gebhard and Eliel Aspelin-Haapkylä to publish Finnish national literature. Alvar Renqvist became managing director in 1893 and was the main figure during the company's early years. His descendants (surname fennicized to Reenpää) have continued his work so that Otava remains, in spite of its size, to a large extent a family company. 1906 saw the completion of the new headquarters right in the centre of Helsinki. In 1908 printing press operations began and in 1916 the printing of magazines got under way. The first magazine to be launched was Suomen Kuvalehti, which still comes out weekly. From 1945 to 1991 the company was listed in the Helsinki Stock Exchange. In 1955 a new printing house was put up in Keuruu, near Jyväskylä. During the 1960s Otava faced grave financial difficulties but was able to pull through by rationalizing operations. In 1998 it bought out its rival company WSOY from the jointly owned Yhtyneet Kuvalehdet, a large publisher of magazines.

Since the beginning of 2006, Otava has also owned the book publishing operations of Like Kustannus. In addition, the book division includes Suuri Suomalainen Kirjakerho (the Great Finnish Book Club). The Otava Group consists of four business areas: books, magazines, retail and new business operations. Printing operations are handled by Otavan Kirjapaino Oy in Keuruu.

On 31 December 2014, Otava purchased a majority shareholding in the book publisher Moreeni. Its publishing operations continued under the same name. In 2015 Otava acquired the entire share capital of F-Kustannus Oy, publisher of the Suuri toivelaulukirja series, among other titles. The purchase of Kustannusosakeyhtiö Nemo followed in 2016, and at the beginning of 2018 the educational materials publisher Oy Finn Lectura Ab came into Otava's ownership. In autumn 2020 Otava bought the shares held by the Svenska folkskolans vänner association, the principal owner of the general publisher Atena. Atena continued its operations in Jyväskylä, retaining its own name, its own publishing programme and its existing staff.