DGAP-News: Bastei Lübbe AG

Press Release​

Bastei Lübbe AG sells 51% investment in book wholesaler BuchPartner GmbH

Cologne, 28 March 2018. Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0), which is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, has signed an agreement to dispose of the 51% investment in the book wholesaler BuchPartner GmbH based in Darmstadt. The buyer is the Gellert family, who is currently a 49% shareholder of BuchPartner GmbH. The Supervisory Board of Bastei Lübbe AG has already approved the transaction. The disposal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of the 2017/2018 financial year. It was agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Bastei Lübbe AG had made the investment in BuchPartner GmbH in April 2016. Commenting on the reasons for the sale, Carel Halff, who has been the new CEO of Bastei Lübbe since November 2017, states: "Unfortunately, the strategic and economic expectations for this investment have not been met. However, BuchPartner remains an important customer and distribution partner of Bastei Lübbe. We are focussing on strengthening and expanding our core business, the German language book publishers in the print, digital and audio sectors."
About Bastei Lübbe AG:

Bastei Lübbe AG is an internationally active media group with headquarters in Cologne. Its business activities primarily focus on the development and licencing of contents which are sold worldwide in physical and digital formats. The core business of the company in the book segment covers classic publishing and periodically published puzzle magazines and novels. With its total of twelve publishing houses and imprints, the company group currently offers around 3,600 titles in the areas of fiction, non-fiction as well as books for children and young adults. In the growing segment of hardcover fiction books, the company has been the market leader in Germany for many years. At the same time, Bastei Lübbe is an engine for innovation in the area of digital media. Apart from the production of thousands of audio and ebooks, the "digital" business unit also maintains participations in the self-publishing platform "BookRix" and the renowned game publisher "Daedalic Entertainment". The digital value-added chain of Bastei Lübbe AG is rounded off through its participation in the online shop "beam-ebooks.de" as well as the new and unique international entertainment platform "oolipo".

With annual sales of approx. 146 million euros (financial year 2016/2017), Bastei Lübbe AG is one the largest medium-sized publishing companies in Germany. The shares of the company have been listed in the Prime Standard segment on the Frankfurt stock exchange (GSIN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) since 2013. Further information is available at www.luebbe.de.
Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Head of Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0)221 / 82 00 28 50
E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de