Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury renews contract with Amazon UK to avoid sales halt

(Reuters) -Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury Publishing on Friday renewed its supply agreement with Amazon, after months of stalled discussions had jeopardised an essential distribution line for the publisher.

Concerns around a major deal with Amazon UK falling through grew after the retailer said that it had failed to negotiate new terms for a contract, which oversaw the sale of Bloomsbury's print and digital books.

"Despite our best efforts over the last seven months, Bloomsbury has refused to engage in a good faith negotiation to discuss a new contract to sell their titles in our store," Amazon UK said in a statement on Thursday.

The retailer added that it would stop selling Bloomsbury print titles in the UK, Europe and Australia and its Kindle titles worldwide if the contract collapsed.

The contract, originally set to expire last year, was due to end at midnight on Jan. 23. However, later on Thursday, Amazon UK announced that it had reached an agreement in principle with Bloomsbury as of 22:30 GMT.

The contract could have had a big impact on the publishing house, which sells its titles via traditional stores and e-commerce channels.

Bloomsbury, also known for publishing novels such as 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by American author Sarah J. Maas, reiterated its confidence in the market's consensus for its full-year sales and profit outlook.

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sonia Cheema)