Smiths News buys educational supplier Smiths News has snapped up an educational supplier for £38m as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the ailing print market. The UK's largest distributor of newspapers and magazines has bought The Consortium, a Trowbridge-based company with 260 staff, which supplies stationery and curricular materials to schools and nurseries. The deal marks the most expensive acquisition yet for Mark Cashmore, chief executive, who has been to keen to cast the group's net wider as print circulations fall in the digital age. The group bought Dawson Holdings, a distribution rival, for £20m in June last year, and Bertrams, the book wholesaler, for £8.6m in 2007 but has said it is keen to look at other opportunities in areas from healthcare to food. The strategy has paid off for Smiths News, which said on Tuesday that underlying pre-tax profits rose 12 per cent to £21.5m in the six months to February 29, compared with the same period last year. Operating profits at Bertrams grew 33.3 per cent on a like-for-like basic as sales at public libraries recovered. Despite the continued downturn in the newspaper industry, Smiths News said the closure of the News of the World in July had resulted in an immediate rebalancing of sales within the Sunday market, and it believed the net effect would be broadly neutral following the launch of the Sunday edition of The Sun in February. A dip in circulation across all titles had also been offset by a rise in cover prices, meaning like-for-like sales were down just 1.2 per cent compared with 2.5 per cent in the same period last year. Magazines proved less robust, with sales down 6.8 per cent compared with 9 per cent as the public's infatuation with celebrities started to wane. Nevertheless, Smiths said it was expecting to cash in on added sales from the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee as newspapers add supplements and boost circulation. Last year the group received an uplift from the royal wedding. Mr Cashmore, who led the spin-out from WH Smith in 2006, said: "The acquisition of The Consortium is an important step in our diversification strategy, consolidating our position as a leading distributor in specialist markets. The Consortium operates in markets in structural growth and can capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in the education, care and adjacent markets. The acquisition is expected to add £64m revenue and £7m ebitda to the group. The group has cut staff from 5,100 to 5,000 in the past six months.