Bastei Lübbe

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Bastei Lübbe AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN DE000A1X3YY0
founding 1953
Seat Cologne , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management
Number of employees 324 (2019)
sales 94.9 million euros (2019)
Branch publishing company
Website luebbe.de luebbe.com
As of March 31, 2019

The Lübbe AG is one of the largest publishing groups in Germany . The company was based in Bergisch Gladbach from 1953 to 2009 and moved to the neighboring Cologne district of Mülheim in 2010 . The company's shares have been traded in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since October 8, 2013 .

history

Bastei publishing house Gustav H. Lübbe

Logo of the Bastei publishing house, today part of Bastei Lübbe AG
Company founder Gustav Lübbe (1981)

The trained newspaper editor Gustav Lübbe (1918–1995) began in 1949 together with his wife Ursula Lübbe (1922–2016) with the distribution of novel booklets to press wholesalers and train station booksellers . In 1953, Lübbe saved the Bastei publishing house in Cologne, which Ilse Tormin had founded in 1949 and in which he had invested in 1950, from bankruptcy and took it over as a publisher .

The beginnings of the company, now renamed Bastei-Verlag Gustav H. Lübbe , are closely linked to booklet series , so-called penny novels , which reached enormous print runs in the post-war years and for the most part still exist today. In March 1954, the publisher brought the fictional G-Man hero Jerry Cotton onto the market, the most successful German-language detective novel in booklet form with 850 million copies.

With the simplest equipment, Gustav Lübbe began in these years to supply press wholesalers and train station booksellers throughout Germany with novel booklets.

Lübbe founded the Bastei Lübbe Verlag für Taschenbücher (Gustav Lübbe Verlag) in 1963 , with which he was able to expand the publishing business to include book novels. In doing so, he created the core of today's company, which in the following decades has grown into a group of six publishers with their own program profile and the audio book division Lübbe Audio . In cooperation with the Italian publisher Fabbri in Milan , Bastei also published other series in the 1960s: The Gallery of Great Painters ran from 1966 to 1969 and had 91 volumes, the Wonderland of the Most Beautiful Fairy Tales (1968 to 1969) had 24 editions.

From 1967 to 1969, Bastei-Verlag published a series of records entitled The Great Musicians : Every 14 days an edition with a fold-out cover and detailed background information (biographies of the composers and material on the time and circumstances in which the music was created) appeared on 12 pages as 10 " , LP or double album. Each EP cost 5 DM, the double albums 8 DM each, the discs were played with 33 1/3 revolutions and were also packed in an extra sleeve. It was the German licensed edition of the Italian series I. Grandi Musicisti , which came out for the first time in 1966. Bastei discontinued the German series after 50 editions.

In the 1960s and 1970s in particular, the publisher achieved a high level of popularity through comic publications that became very popular, such as Bessy , Silberpfeil , Felix , and Ghost Stories , which became the third important publishing division.

After the death of the company founder Gustav Lübbe in 1995, his son Stefan Lübbe inherited 40%, his daughter Cornelia Lübbe 40% and his wife Ursula Lübbe 20% of the company. Peter Roggen became managing director.

In 1997 the Ehrenwirth Verlag in Munich was taken over .

Publishing group Lübbe

Logo of the publishing group Lübbe

Since the reorganization of the divisions in 2000, the company has been called Verlagsgruppe Lübbe GmbH & Co KG.

In September 2001 Ursula Lübbe transferred an 11 percent share of her 20 percent in the company to her son Stefan Lübbe, who thus took over 51 percent of the publisher. Cornelia Lübbe-Roggen still held 40%. Peter Roggen resigned from the management.

Stefan Lübbe took over the management of the publishing house and worked closely with the former kabel eins managing director Karlheinz Jungbeck in order to reorganize the economically troubled publishing house.

From 2006 until his death in October 2014, Stefan Lübbe ran the former family business as sole owner after years of turmoil in the family thanks to the purchase of shares from his sister Cornelia Lübbe-Roggen.

At the beginning of 2006, puzzle booklets were published by the newly founded Deutsche Rätselverlag . This was a joint venture between the publishers Bastei and Gong based in Ismaning and was completely sold to Gong in 2008. Since then, the publisher has been operating under the name BASTEI-Novelsbereich Verlagsgruppe Lübbe for booklet novels and is thus separated from the paperback publishing house, which was continued as Bastei Lübbe Verlag.

In March 2006, the last two comic series, Ghost Stories and Ghost Stories Special, ended and the publisher's comic book production was discontinued.

The publishing group began to restructure under Stefan Lübbe in July 2008 and opened an office in Berlin. In 2008 the Baumhaus-Verlag from Frankfurt am Main was taken over.

Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG

Company headquarters on the grounds of the Carlswerk in Cologne

After 56 years in Bergisch Gladbach, the publishing house moved its headquarters to Cologne-Mülheim on the Carlswerk site in January 2010 , where 250 employees work. The Lübbe publishing group also renamed itself Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG.

Since 2010, numerous events have been held in the publishing foyer of Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG: readings and book events, authors and books are presented.

On July 1, 2010, Boje Verlag in Stuttgart was taken over , which among other things publishes 30 titles by James Krüss .

On July 1, 2011, the publisher Stefan Lübbe acquired a 74% stake in the Munich-based PMV Partner Medien Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, which was founded in July 2002, for Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG. In 2012 PMV published 25 magazines with a total of 150 issues. At the end of 2012, Bastei Lübbe acquired the remaining 26% of the shares in PMV.

In September 2011: Founding of the capital city Quadriga

In December 2011 the Eichborn Verlag was taken over . The "Verlag mit der Fliege" was founded in 1980 by Vito von Eichborn and Matthias Kierzek in Frankfurt am Main. Its program consists of the three pillars of fiction, non-fiction and humor. In addition, the company wheels Wohn accessories GmbH & Co KG, which was merged into the company in June 2012, takes place.

In January 2012, Bastei Lübbe was the first German publisher to bring a purely digital program onto the market with “Digital First”.

Bastei Media has been part of Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co KG since the beginning of 2013. The seat of the film and television production company is the media location Erfurt . The focus here is the development of cross-media programs for children and adults. In February 2013, Bastei Media acquired Family Entertainment.tv, also based in Erfurt.

Bastei Lübbe AG, IPO

In June 2013, Bastei Lübbe announced that the company was aiming to go public . In the course of this, the company changed on August 14, 2013 from a GmbH & Co. KG to a stock corporation with 10 million ordinary bearer shares . The company planned to subscribe for 5.3 million shares between September 17 and October 1, 2013 in a range between EUR 9 and EUR 11, thereby generating EUR 58 million. In the free float , 30.08 percent of the shares should go to the initial listing, Stefan Lübbe and his wife Birgit should remain majority owners with almost 56 percent.

Shortly before going public, the company extended the subscription period to October 2, 2013 and reduced the price range to EUR 7.50 to EUR 9. Even so, the company was only able to sell four million shares at the lower end of the offering range. 3.3 million of these came from a capital increase , which resulted in issue proceeds of 25 million euros. When it was first listed on October 8, 2013 in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange , the shares started below the issue price at EUR 7.40.

In May 2014, Bastei Lübbe announced the acquisition of a majority stake of 51% in the German computer game developer Daedalic Entertainment . The publisher described the move as part of its growth strategy to become an internationally active, multimedia publishing house that can market its brands in all areas itself. In return, Daedalic hoped to gain new marketing opportunities for its previous game brands in the areas of books, comics, audio and film as well as additional capital to expand its previous business activities in order to more than double the company's turnover from the last six million euros (2013 financial year) by 2015.

In July 2016, Wirtschaftswoche revealed that Bastei Lübbe had made high book profits through two transactions with Daedalic's stake and an alleged letterbox company . The share price then collapsed by around 20 percent, and the Bastei Lübbe AG supervisory board resigned. The company announced that it will correct its balance sheets for fiscal years 2014/15 and 2015/16, which will reduce earnings before taxes, interest and depreciation by an estimated 40 and 50 percent respectively. In September 2017, CEO Thomas Schierack was replaced and in November 2017 he was replaced by Carel Halff, who had come from Weltbild . Halff sold the book wholesaler Buchpartner as well as investments in online platforms, which lost 50 jobs, and concentrated on the core business of books. After a loss of 16.4 million euros, he achieved a small group profit. In October 2019, the Dutchman announced his departure with the expiry of his contract at the end of 2020.

Business areas (selection)

Bastei Lübbe is a classic general-interest publisher for fiction and non-fiction. Titles appear in the genres of tension, fantasy, women, history and non-fiction. A total of 3,600 book titles from the individual publishers are currently available. Today Bastei Lübbe AG consists of 20 different publishers, imprints and companies, including Lübbe Hardcover, Lübbe Ehrenwirth, Bastei Lübbe Taschenbuch, Lübbe Audio and the publishers Eichborn , Quadriga , LYX, Baumhaus, Boje and ONE.

Lübbe Audio is the audio book program of the Bastei Lübbe with a focus on fiction, historical novels, thrillers, crime novels, horror as well as modern women's topics, romance and current non-fiction and children's topics. Bastei Verlag still publishes the classic booklets today. In addition, "HarperCollins at Lübbe Audio" has been an integral part of Bastei Lübbe AG since summer 2016 and is expanding the portfolio of the Lübbe Audio label.

The Buje- and Baumhaus-Verlag form the children's and youth book program. From the tree house program come u. a. the series Die wilden Fußballkerle by Joachim Masannek and Jan Birck , Lauras Stern by Klaus Baumgart and Gregs Tagebücher 1–7 by US author Jeff Kinney ; Buje has been part of Bastei Lübbe since July 1, 2010. The company's digital division, Bastei Entertainment, includes the areas of e-publishing and cross-media exploitation .

The individual publishers are (as of July, 2016):

  • Lübbe Hardcover: Full range of hardcover fiction and non-fiction books .
  • Bastei Lübbe Taschenbuch: Full range of paperback books with up to 400 titles per year.
  • Bastei Romanbereich one of the leading providers of novel booklets in Germany.
  • Lübbe Audio: Lübbe Audio, founded in 1996, is now one of the three largest audio book publishers in Germany.
  • Bastei Entertainment: The company's digital division relies on "e-publishing" and "cross-media exploitation".
  • Baumhaus Verlag and Baumhaus paperbacks: Children's and young people's book program, here are u. a. the successful Greg's diaries appeared.
  • Boje Verlag : Children's and young people's book program
  • Quadriga Verlag: The capital city publishing house Quadriga, based in Berlin, publishes works on current political and economic topics.
  • Eichborn Verlag: The publishing house offers a home for literary discoveries as well as for special books in the fields of fiction and non-fiction, see Timur Vermes ' world bestseller "He is back".
  • ONE Verlag: The publisher includes titles from the genres of dystopia, fantasy, suspense and romance, which are classified as “All Age” or “Young Adult”.
  • HarperCollins at Lübbe Audio: The label founded in summer 2016 expands the portfolio of the Lübbe Audio label.
  • LYX: On June 1, 2016, Bastei Lübbe AG took over the labels LYX and LYX.digital from Egmont . The focus is on romance novels.

Holdings

  • 100% Bastei Media
  • 100% beam, the ebook shop
  • 60% bookrix (self-publishing platform)
  • 30% community editions
  • 10% Daedalic Entertainment , Hamburg
  • 30% HPR Bild & Ton GmbH
  • 90% Moravská Bastei MOBA, Czech Republic
  • 87% oolipo AG
  • 100% Seventh Heaven Bastei Lübbe GmbH

Web links

Commons : Bastei Lübbe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Monika Salchert: Bastei-Lübbe - From the penny novel to Dan Brown. Die Welt , May 11, 2013, accessed October 3, 2013 .
  2. ↑ a b Annual Report 2018/2019. (PDF) In: luebbe.com. Retrieved June 10, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b Regina Krieger, Hans-Peter Siebenhaar: Just making books is no longer enough. Handelsblatt , February 5, 2010, accessed on October 3, 2013 .
  4. ^ Musik-sammler.de: Bastei The Great Musicians 11 - Ludwig Van Beethoven I
  5. ↑ Hans-Peter Siebenhaar: Stefan Lübbe becomes sole ruler. Handelsblatt , January 8, 2007, accessed October 4, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Notification on the Bastei Verlag website, accessed on February 21, 2011
  7. ↑ Angelika Jockers / Reinhard Jahn, Lexicon of German-language crime fiction authors . BUCH & media, 2005, ISBN 3-86520-093-1 , p. 8
  8. ^ "Bastei Lübbe Publishing History" . Homepage of Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG
  9. ↑ Bastei Lübbe strengthens the puzzle area. Börsenblatt.net (July 11, 2011).
  10. ↑ An exciting publishing history is being continued: Bastei Lübbe re-establishes capital city publishing house Quadriga. Buchmarkt.de (October 4, 2010). Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  11. ↑ The man for the long haul. Die Zeit online (October 15, 2012). Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  12. ↑ Bastei Lübbe takes over Fahrrad home accessories. Börsenblatt.net (December 13, 2011). Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  13. ↑ Bastei Lübbe starts Digital First. Buchmarkt.net (January 18, 2012). Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  14. ↑ Focus on television. Buchreport.de (February 8, 2013). Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ Bastei Lübbe aims to be listed on the stock exchange. Bastei Lübbe, June 11, 2013, accessed on October 3, 2013 (press release).
  16. ↑ The "Bergdoktor" is going public. Bastei Lübbe. Manager Magazin , June 11, 2013, accessed October 3, 2013 .
  17. ↑ Big step towards the stock exchange: Medienhaus Bastei Lübbe converted into a stock corporation. Bastei Lübbe, August 14, 2013, accessed on October 3, 2013 (press release).
  18. ↑ a b Lena Schipper: Jerry Cotton goes public - who goes with? Bastei Lübbe goes public. FAZ , September 25, 2013, accessed on October 3, 2013 .
  19. ↑ a b Bastei Lübbe AG: Overview. Deutsche Börse , accessed on October 2, 2013 .
  20. ↑ Issue price lowered: Bastei Lübbe has a hard time getting rid of its shares. FAZ , September 27, 2013, accessed on October 14, 2013 .
  21. ↑ Bastei Lübbe earns little in the IPO. FAZ , October 3, 2013, accessed on October 14, 2013 .
  22. ↑ Bastei Lübbe AG: Successful placement of the shares - trading in Prime Standard begins on October 8, 2013 , adhoc announcement on dgap.de, October 3, 2013.
  23. ↑ These stocks rushed down. Bastei Lübbe: Sluggish walk to the stock exchange. Handelsblatt , October 8, 2013, accessed on October 14, 2013 .
  24. ↑ Bastei Lübbe acquires majority in Hamburg game developer / Another building block for the multimedia strategy. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Daedalic Entertainment: Bastei Lübbe acquires majority stake - 4Players.de. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Questionable business is nicely done by the publisher's numbers , Wirtschaftswoche, July 18, 2016.
  27. ↑ Publisher comments on allegations , Wirtschaftswoche, July 20, 2016.
  28. ↑ Bastei Lübbe: Supervisory Board resigns as a whole , Wirtschaftswoche, August 1, 2016.
  29. ↑ Bastei Lübbe AG changes the scope of consolidation in the 2015/2016 balance sheet , adhoc announcement on dgap.de, 23 August 2016.
  30. ↑ A pioneer in the earthing phase. In: buchreport .de. March 30, 2018, accessed on April 19, 2018 (interview with payment barrier, introduction freely accessible).
  31. ↑ Bastei Lübbe has to look for a new CEO. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, October 2, 2019, p. 24.
  32. ↑ Bastei Lübbe AG sells majority stake in game developer Daedalic Entertainment - dgap.de. Retrieved May 19, 2020 .