Bastei Lübbe AG signs long-term collaboration with global best-selling author Ken Follett

Bastei Lübbe AG signs long-term collaboration with global best-selling author Ken Follett

Cologne, December 9, 2015. Bastei Lübbe will continue its long-term partnership with global best-selling author Ken Follett. The Cologne-based company has signed two new book deals with the British author, extending the collaboration to 2023. "We are proud and happy to have this opportunity to continue working with Ken Follett, with whom we have enjoyed a friendly relationship for many years. He is more than just a world-class writer. For decades now he has also been one of the Bastei Lübbe Group's most successful and notable authors", explains Thomas Schierack, the company's CEO (Frankfurt Stock Exchange/Prime Standard listing code ISIN DE000A1X3YY0).

The Cologne media conglomerate has a long history with Ken Follett, the British author with a global following. Since 1979, all German-language editions of his novels have been published by Bastei Lübbe, including classics such as "Eye of the Needle", the trailblazing historical novel "Pillars of the Earth" and the recently concluded Century Trilogy.

Bastei Lübbe Group reported back in 2014 that a new book contract was concluded as well as an expansion of the collaboration to cover new media channels around the world. Daedalic Entertainment, a game publisher that is part of the Bastei Lübbe Group is developing the first computer game based on Follett's most successful work to date, "The Pillars of the Earth". Ken Follett and Daedalic CEO Carsten Fichtelmann provided a first look at the game's development at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair. The game is expected to be released for all consoles as well as PC and mobile devices in autumn 2017 - at the same time as Follett's highly anticipated new historical novel about spies and secret agents in the sixteenth century. Set in the time of Queen Elizabeth I and partly in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, it is a sequel to bestsellers The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End.

Now the contracts are in place for two more books. Those novels are expected in 2020 and 2023.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:
Bastei Lübbe AG is an international media group based in Cologne. The business operations focus on the development and licensing of content distributed worldwide physically and digitally. The company's core business includes the traditional publishing business and the periodical puzzle magazines and novel booklets in the "Book" segment. With its twelve publishers and imprints, the group of companies currently offers approximately 3,600 titles in fiction, non-fiction and books for children and young adults. In the growing segment of hardcover fiction, the company has been the market leader in Germany for many years. At the same time, Bastei Lübbe is driving innovation in the field of digital media. As well as the production of thousands of audio and e-books, the "Digital" segment also includes holdings in the self-publishing platform "BookRix" and the renowned games publisher "Daedalic Entertainment". Bastei Lübbe AG's value chain is completed by the investment in the online shop "beam-ebooks.de" and the new and internationally unique streaming platform "oolipo".
With currently 334 employees and an annual turnover of roughly EUR 110.2 million (financial year 2014/2015), Bastei Lübbe AG is the largest medium-sized family company in the German publishing industry. Since 2013, the company's shares have been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0). Further information is available at www.luebbe.de.

Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:

Barbara Fischer
Head of Press and
Event Marketing
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 / 82 00 28 50
E-mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de