Bastei Lübbe AG: Implementation of joint growth strategy: Bastei Lübbe AG sells 3 % share in Daedalic Entertainment GmbH to British investor

Implementation of joint growth strategy: Bastei Lübbe AG sells 3 % share in Daedalic Entertainment GmbH to British investor

Cologne, 17 September 2015. Bastei Lübbe AG has sold a 3 % share in Daedalic Entertainment GmbH ("Daedalic") to British investor Blue Sky Tech Ventures Limited on the basis of a purchase agreement with effect from today. This has reduced Bastei Lübbe AG's share in Daedalic to currently 48 %. Blue Sky Tech Ventures Limited also has an option to acquire another 5 % of the shares in Daedalic in the next year. The British investor also has a 55 % stake in BEAM AG.

Thomas Schierack, CEO of Bastei Lübbe AG, explains the reasons for the share sale: "In the next four years, Daedalic is planning a considerable expansion of its business into the development and sale of adventure games. We now want to approach the financing of this ambitious growth programme with the support of Blue Sky Tech Ventures Limited as well as via equity of Daedalic Entertainment GmbH, thus keeping risks low for all involved." Bastei Lübbe AG is deconsolidating its investment mainly as a response to Daedalic's planned self-financing. "This is intended to prevent the temporary increase in Daedalic's liabilities from negatively affecting Bastei Lübbe AG's balance sheet ratios," says Schierack.

The award-winning games developer Daedalic Entertainment GmbH has been considered one of the best games developers and publishers in Germany for many years. Together with Bastei Lübbe, Daedalic is currently developing a range of new content, including a game based on the global bestseller "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. In the 2014 financial year, Daedalic generated revenue of EUR 7.2 million and EBITDA of EUR 1.7 million. In the current financial year, the Hamburg games company is planning to increase revenue to around EUR 10.5 million while growing earnings to EUR 1.9 million on the basis of EBITDA.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:
Bastei Lübbe AG is a media company in the form of a publishing house. With its headquarters in Cologne, the company has around 437 employees across the group. Bastei Lübbe publishes books, audio books, ebooks and digital products with fiction and popular science content, as well as periodical magazines in the form of novel booklets and puzzle magazines. Bastei Lübbe's business activities also include the licensing of rights and the development, production and sale of gift goods, decorative goods and merchandising articles. Bastei Lübbe has been the market leader in the growing hardcover fiction segment for many years, almost completely unchallenged, and was also number 1 in 2013 in the fiction ebooks segment. In 2013, Bastei Lübbe AG celebrated their 60^th anniversary and went public. Bastei Lübbe AG shares are listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0).
 

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