Predecessors RCS Libri S.p.A. was a subsidiary and the book publishing division of
RCS MediaGroup (RCS stands for Rizzoli–
Corriere della Sera); '''' itself means books in
Italian. A. Rizzoli & C. was founded by
Angelo Rizzoli, a former printing apprentice. The company acquired 4 magazines to become a publishing company in 1927. The group founded the imprint (BUR) in 1949. In 1990, the group acquired Fabbri–Sonzogno–Etas, another publishing group. In 1993, RCS Media Group acquired full control of Fabbri–Sonzogno–Etas. which gave birth of the two brands Sansoni and Sansoni per la Scuola. In 1993, RCS MediaGroup acquired
Bompiani. merging with the group's existing textbook publishing business.) as well as French publisher
Editions Flammarion. RCS MediaGroup became the largest book publisher in Italy after the deals. In 2007, the Italian Competition Authority started an investigation on 9 publishing companies, including RCS Libri, for an alleged anti-competitive conduct in the textbook market. On 9 December 2013, the group signed an agreement with
Telecom Italia on e-books and online edition of newspapers. It also included the ebooks of the imprints of RCS Libri at that time: Rizzoli,
Bompiani, Fabbri,
Adelphi, , Marsilio,
Skira, and Sonzogno. RCS Media Group also sold the equity interest (48%) in the imprint Editions d'Art Albert Skirà (or known as Skira group) on 11 December 2013. Immediately after the transaction, RCS Libri, via Rizzoli International, still owned 49% stake of Skira Rizzoli Publications Inc., which was based in New York. or €298.6 million if excluding Flammarion. and then €252 million in 2013 2013 and 2014. The net loss was €218 million in 2013
Acquired by Mondadori group and downsizing as Rizzoli Libri division In February 2015, it was reported that
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (Mondadori group) had submitted a non-binding offer to buy RCS Libri from RCS MediaGroup. It was reported that Rosellina Archinto, founder of the namesake imprint, re-acquired Archinto in July 2015. In October 2015, RCS MediaGroup announced to sell the whole division, with Mondadori group being the principal buyer, despite some subsidiaries and imprints of RCS Libri, were sold to other investors instead. For example, the controlling stake (58%) of Adelphi was sold to Roberto Calasso, Furthermore, in March 2016,
Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) ruled that Mondadori, after the acquisition, had to sell subsidiaries and imprints
Bompiani, Marsilio Editori and Sonzogno. Marsilio (including the imprint Sonzogno) was sold back to De Michelis family's GEM
S.r.l. while Bompiani was sold to
Giunti Editore. Mondadori group retained the brands such as Rizzoli (in books only In April 2016, immediately after the takeover, RCS Libri S.p.A. was renamed to Rizzoli Libri S.p.A.. Rizzoli Libri S.p.A. was under Mondadori Libri S.p.A., a business unit of Mondadori group. Rizzoli Libri S.p.A. was further downsized by the transfer of the ownership of the overseas subsidiary Rizzoli International Publications to Mondadori Electa, with the section of Rizzoli Libri S.p.A. being merged into the direct parent company Mondadori Libri S.p.A.. Mondadori Libri also absorbed Sperling & Kupfer S.p.A. and Edizioni Piemme S.p.A. on 1 January 2017. They were retained as divisions and imprints of Mondadori Libri. The trade book area of Mondadori Libri (including the imprint Rizzoli) and the textbook subsidiary and imprint Rizzoli Education, since 2018, were also under different corporate leadership, Enrico Selva Coddè and Antonio Porro, respectively. They were the Managing Directors () of Mondadori Libri. According to the publication of Mondadori group, the direct parent company of Rizzoli Education had also changed to aforementioned Mondadori Libri. According to
GfK, as of the financial year 2018, the downsized Rizzoli Libri had a market share of 4.8% (decreased from 4.9% year to year) in trade books, and the whole Mondadori group had a market share of 27.4% (decreased from 30.0% year to year). ==Former subsidiaries==