The July 2012 acquisition of Thomas Nelson by HarperCollins helped improve the earnings of the parent company.

In a statement regarding its "favorable" second quarter that ended Dec. 31, HarperCollins said: "Once again, the company benefitted from the acquisition of Nelson and the continued growth of e-book sales."

News Corp., which owns HarperCollins, said the book publishing business related to the Nelson acquisition more than offset lower advertising revenues from its Australian newspapers. The acquisition helped to boost the parent company's quarterly publishing income to $234 million, an increase of $16 million compared to the same period a year ago.

HarperCollins didn't elaborate on how specifically it received a boost from acquiring Nelson, which along with Zondervan comprises HarperCollins Christian Publishing, HarperCollins' Christian division.

In fall 2011, HarperCollins agreed to buy Thomas Nelson, but did not disclose the purchase price although it was reported by several media outlets to be $200 million. In mid-2010, an investor group led by Kohlberg & Co. bought majority ownership in the Nashville-based publishing company.