Bastei Lübbe AG

Regulatory Filings • May 22, 2014

News Details

Ad-hoc | 22 May 2014 17:25

Bastei Lübbe AG: Bastei Lübbe AG is making another investment in the expansion of its digital range through stake in successful selfpublishing platform BookRix

Bastei Lübbe AG / Key word(s): Investment

22.05.2014 17:25

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Cologne/Munich, 22nd of May 2014. Bastei Lübbe AG, a publicly held company
listed on the Frankfurt Exchange's Prime Standard segment (ISIN
DE000A1X3YY0), has made another important investment in its digital range.
In this case it has acquired a majority share of BookRix GmbH & Co. KG of
Munich. BookRix is already one of the leading self-publishing platforms in
Germany and has recently established a foothold in the USA as well. At
present roughly 1,000 new eBooks are published each month on the platform.
The eBooks distributed by BookRix via its proprietary platform reach its
base of some 560,000 users. Another 4,000 new user register each month as
well. BookRix also delivers content to 60 leading online stores, including
market leaders like Amazon and iTunes. Demand for self-published works is
enormous: Three titles from the BookRix universe climbed onto Amazon's Top
10 charts in the past six months alone. The Munich-based company forecasts
that it will sell more than one million eBooks this year. More than a third
of the downloads are made using forward-looking mobile end devices like
smartphones. All efforts will be made to maintain the company's rapid
growth.

Through its investment, Bastei Lübbe is seeking to link the classical
publishing business to the new self-publishing concept, and in the process
expand its digital arm and embrace greater internationalisation. Through
BookRix, Bastei Lübbe also gains access to a large and highly active book
community in Germany, allowing for direct interaction with the primarily
young and extremely engaged readership. Both companies can now work
together to realise their shared vision of modern self-publishing, where
authorial independence is supplemented optimally by the classic core
competencies of a publishing house.

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 publically traded media company organised around its
publishing venture. The Cologne-based company currently has around 340
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 BookRix GmbH & Co. KG:
With more than 560,000 registered users, BookRix is currently one of
Germany's largest self-publishing platforms. As a shop-independent
provider, BookRix also delivers content from its authors to roughly 60
different stores - including market leaders Amazon and iTunes. To date the
Munich-based company has delivered some 6,500 self-published titles to
retailers, including many notable successes at Amazon: in the last six
months alone 9 titles from BookRix have reached the Top 50 on the Kindle
Charts, with 5 hitting the Top 20 and 3 even claiming spots on the Top 10
Amazon Best-Seller lists. BookRix forecasts selling more than one million
eBooks in 2014.

Contact at Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Director Press and
Event Marketing
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 / 82 00 28 50
Email: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de

22.05.2014 DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
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Language: English
Company: Bastei Lübbe AG
Schanzenstraße 6 - 20
51063 Köln
Germany
Phone: 02 21 / 82 00 - 0
Fax: 02 21 / 82 00 - 1900
E-mail: investorrelations@luebbe.de
Internet: www.luebbe.de
ISIN: DE000A1X3YY0, DE000A1K0169
WKN: A1X3YY, A1K016
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart

End of Announcement DGAP News-Service

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