Bastei Lübbe AG acquires majority investment in leading book wholesaler BuchPartner GmbH

Bastei Lübbe AG acquires majority investment in leading book wholesaler BuchPartner GmbH

Cologne, April 8, 2016. Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0), which is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is investing in BuchPartner GmbH, the leading book wholesaler in Europe's German-speaking region. Thomas Schierack, CEO of Bastei Lübbe AG, explains the strategy behind the investment: "Bastei Lübbe AG is investing systematically in its development - in digital growth as well as in the diversification of the value chain in traditional publishing and brick-and-mortar bookselling. The offer to invest in BuchPartner was a big and attractive opportunity for us, which we definitely wanted to take."

The investment in BuchPartner GmbH reflects the consistent implementation of the described growth strategy: The company with around 220 employees and 800 associated service staff is the market leader in food retailing and currently manages around 4,000 shops and supplies more than 2,500 customers in the promotions business. BuchPartner's customers include nearly all leading retail corporations, such as the Edeka-Group (Edeka and Marktkauf), the REWE-Group (REWE and Penny), Kaufland, Famila, HIT, Saturn, Media Markt as well as Metro and Real. "Specialist stores are a major growth area for our industry. With this investment, we are laying the foundations for participating here in the future," says Thomas Schierack.

Kai Gellert, Managing Director of BuchPartner GmbH, is also pleased to have a strong new shareholder on board: "We are delighted that Bastei Lübbe AG has joined us. This puts a long-term partner at our side, with which we can shape our future growth."

According to Thomas Schierack, BuchPartner GmbH is a near-perfect fit for the enhancement of Bastei Lübbe AG's portfolio: "We are a traditional business that looks to the future. With this investment, we are significantly improving our competitive position in the distribution sector and also helping to strengthen the industry as a whole as a strategic investor. We will benefit from this together with everyone else."

The details of the investment package (price and stake) are to be treated as confidential information.

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". The investments Daedalic, BookRix, oolipo, Beam Store, JV US and Bastei Media are bundled in the Holding company "Bastei Ventures GmbH", since January 2016.
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
Director / Vice President
Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 / 82 00 28 50
E-mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de