| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Karl Fowler |
| Country of origin | Guernsey |
| Headquarters location | United Arab Emirates |
| Distribution | Opus Media Group PLC |
| Key people | Karl Fowler, Paul Murphy |
| Publication types | Books |
| Nonfiction topics | Sports teams; celebrities; arts; culture |
| Fiction genres | Definitive publications |
| Official website | https://www.thisisopus.com |
Kraken Opus is a publishing company operating from Guernsey in the Channel Islands; London, United Kingdom; and the United Arab Emirates. The company produces premium, outsized editions on subjects including sports teams [1] and celebrities, [2] and on broader topics including the Muslim hajj. [3] The company describes its publications, which are produced in limited editions retailing for up to £1m, as "works of art". [2]
The company is owned by Karl Fowler, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker. [4] He founded Kraken Opus following a period managing his own financial services company, for which he built up a client list including a number of sports stars. The interests of these clients inspired him to consider a high-end publication for sports fans; [5] he invested $5 million of his own money and of capital put up by friends and acquaintances to found Kraken Opus. [2] Its first title was the Manchester United Opus, published in 2006: the book weighed 97 pounds (44 kg) and each edition in its 10,000 run was priced between £3000 and £4500. [2] [5]
In December 2008 the company opened a proprietary shop in Covent Garden. [6] The company entered voluntary administration in June 2009 when a US backer announced that a tranche of $6m in promised funding would not be forthcoming. [7] Days later, following an offer to existing shareholders, Fowler and partner Paul Murphy undertook a management buyout of the company, [8] announcing that a new Arab funder had been found and that the company's headquarters would be moved from London to the United Arab Emirates. [7] At the time the company faced criticism over the delayed publication of the £3000-per-copy Celtic Opus, which was postponed from July 2009, after pre-orders and deposits had been received. [9] The print run was also reduced, but the firm insisted that publication would still go ahead. [10]
Several of the company's publications have attracted press notice, including the Burj Dubai Opus, a 15-foot (4.6 m) tall edition of which was commissioned to stand in the lobby of the building on its opening. [11] A copy of the Manchester United Opus, auctioned for $1.5m to a Middle Eastern consortium with proceeds given to the Dubai Cares charity, was the most expensive sports book ever sold. [2] [3] Wine Opus had a print run of only one hundred copies, each priced at AU£1.2m each. [12] The Prince Opus was sold, in tandem with a branded iPhone model, for US$2,100, [13] while as of June 2009 [update] one hundred copies of the Diego Maradona Opus were due to ship with samples of Maradona's blood and hair. [7] Kraken Opus, in partnership with ticket vendor Ticketmaster, also produced the £109 Michael Jackson Opus, the only book licensed by the Jackson estate in the immediate aftermath of his death. [14] Vivienne Westwood Opus, published in 2008, was a limited edition of 900 priced at £1,400. [15] Sachin Tendulkar Opus was the most expensive cricket book published. [16] In December 2017 the company offered a special 'diamante' edition of their The Official Ferrari Opus, also published in 2011 in various editions for between $4,100 and $37,500, for auction through Sotheby's at an estimate of $150,000. [17]