Bastei Lübbe AG: Bastei Lübbe AG acquiring majority share in prize-winning game development house Daedalic Entertainment GmbH

Cologne/Hamburg, 16^th of May, 2014: Bastei Lübbe AG, a publicly held company listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, has acquired a majority share in Daedalic Entertainment GmbH of Hamburg, a multi-award winning publisher and developer of computer games. The relevant agreements were signed today. "For us, the investment in Daedalic represents another consistent step toward the implementation of our multimedia growth strategy. We see ourselves moving even closer to our strategic goal of establishing Bastei Lübbe as an internationally active publishing and multimedia house present along all parts of the value chain", explains Thomas Schierack, CEO of Bastei Lübbe.

Daedalic Entertainment, known for its prize-winning adventure and story-based computer games, is widely regarded as one of Germany's top game development and publishing houses. The company received its second "Studio of the Year" award in 2013, following in the footsteps of its triumph in 2009. Daedalic Entertainment earned revenues of roughly 6 mn euros in 2013, representing EBIT margins of over 10%. The Hamburg-based company is forecasting rising revenues through 2015, to around 14 mn euros, and EBIT growth of over 2 mn euros.

The companies are now planning on close cooperation: For Bastei Lübbe, the acquisition represents an expansion of its activities in this field. Daedalic Entertainment for its part will be able to focus even more clearly on creative development going forward: "This strategic partnership represents an ideal complement to both company's businesses", explains Daedalic Entertainment Founder and Director Carsten Fichtelmann.

The two companies are focused on the development of proprietary material and the production and marketing of captivating stories. As such, Daedalic is doing more than just adding its creative content to the Bastei Lübbe portfolio. Deadalic's brands, including the games "Deponia" and "Edna & Harvey: The Breakout", also bring with them a significant fan base, laying an ideal groundwork for synergy in the film, audio, comic and eBook areas.

The operative collaboration is effective immediately. The sides have agreed not to disclose any information about the purchase price for the controlling stake.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:
Bastei Lübbe AG is a media company organised around its publishing venture. The Cologne-based company currently has around 335 employees. It publishes books, audio books, ebooks and digital products in both the literary and popular science genres, as well as serialised novels and puzzle magazines. Bastei Lübbe is also actively involved in brand licensing and the development, production and distribution of gift, decoration and merchandising articles. Bastei Lübbe has for many years enjoyed an almost unbroken streak as the market leader in the growing segment of hard-cover literature; in 2013 its literary ebooks division was also ranked number one on the market. 2013 saw the company's 60th anniversary celebration and its launch as a publicly traded company. Shares of Bastei Lübbe AG are listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0).

About Daedalic Entertainment GmbH:
Hamburg-based Daedalic Entertainment develops and markets high-quality computer and video games for a global market. The studio puts a developmental focus on outstanding entertainment software with a strong narrative character. Daedalic titles like Goodbye Deponia have claimed 21 German Developer prizes, including "Studio of the Year" in 2009 and 2013. Its Chaos on Deponia also earned the studio the German Computer Gaming Prize as "Best German Game of 2013". Daedalic Entertainment has won the German Computer Gaming Prize five times in all, as well as one European Games Award. Titles like Goodbye Deponia, Memoria and Edna & Harvey: The Breakout have set new benchmarks for the adventure segment. As a publisher of third-party content, Daedalic Entertainment has released unusual and outstanding titles such as Torchlight II, Gomo, Munin and Divinity: Original Sin.