smarticular (2020)
Transaction: Company Sale
Industry: Book
Context and Company:
Those who relate to books may understand that the book and publishing industry face similar challenges. Upon investing in authors and artists book publishers as well as music labels incur rather comparable risks. Traditional distribution channels remain important in the book industry, but in both cases a close relation with the community becomes increasingly important in order to remain credible – and in order to create content and titels that succeed in the market. This approach – rather novel for the book industry – has been pursued by the book publisher smarticular for several years. The entity behind smarticular, Berlin based Business Hub Berlin UG, thereby combines economic sustainability with sustainability as main theme of its book publications and its own platforms www.smarticular.net and www.kostbarenatur.net.
Through its publications smarticular supports the change from mass consumption and fosters a more conscientious use of resources and awareness with regard to our environment. The themes and content of books published are being inspired by the ongoing communication with a community that grew organically over the years and that keeps contributing ideas on a constant basis. This integrated model helps smarticular to reach an audience of about 3 million people per month.
Transaction and Benefits:
The transaction with the purpose of acquiring Business Hub Berlin UG by the Cologne based publisher Baste Luebbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) – one of the leading companies in this sector in German speaking Europe – which had already been announced on Dec. 22nd, 2020, has now been closed.
Both companies expect significant synergies from a joint development of the self help book portfolio. In addition Bastei Lübbe builds its offering and expertise in the area of sustainability.
in rebus corporate finance GmbH acted as exclusive financial advisor to smarticular over the entire transaction process.
Bastei Luebbe AG press release
SIMILAR TRANSACTIONS
Interested in the publishing sector? Feel free to read up on the equity financing of Stuttgart based AX Semantics by Mueller Medien, Augsburger Allgemeine/ pd ventures and NWZ or the company sale of Oranienburg (nearby Berlin) based Print Royal to Schwaebisch Media, headquartered in Ravensburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg), both also advised on by in rebus corporate finance.
