Joachim Herbst to become Spokesman of the Executive Board of Bastei Lübbe AG at the end of 2020

• Carel Halff remains CEO until the end of 2020 and will advise the company thereafter
• Ulrich Zimmermann to leave the company at the end of 2020

Cologne, 17 December 2019 - Bastei Lübbe AG, listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, announced changes to its Executive Board yesterday. The Supervisory Board of Bastei Lübbe AG has agreed with Joachim Herbst (53) on an Executive Board employment contract for November 2020. He will then be appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and after a transitional phase - with the departure of the current CEO, Carel Halff (68) - will additionally take over the office of Spokesman of the Executive Board.

Joachim Herbst is currently the commercial director of Cornelsen Schulverlage and Franz Cornelsen Bildungsholding and, after more than 20 years in the industry, can already be proud of great successes in the book and media world. The Diplom-Kaufmann has extensive experience in managing the commercial departments of finance, IT and human resources and has also managed media companies himself.

Robert Stein, Chairman of the Supervisory Board: "We are delighted to have found in Mr Herbst an experienced media and publishing manager as spokesman for the Executive Board, who, in addition to his expertise as CFO, has also had overall responsibility for achieving sustainable company success in operational terms."

Carel Halff will remain CEO of Bastei Lübbe AG until the end of 2020 and will then be available to the company in an advisory capacity.

The Supervisory Board will continue to review the composition and composition of the remaining members of the Executive Board.

Ulrich Zimmermann, CFO of Bastei Lübbe AG, has informed the Supervisory Board that, for personal reasons, he does not wish to extend his contract, which runs until the end of 2020. Robert Stein appreciates the work of the resigning Chief Financial Officer: "The Supervisory Board thanks Mr Zimmermann for his great commitment and the success achieved in the restructuring of Bastei Lübbe AG. The company once again achieved a positive result in the past financial year and safeguarded its medium-term financing by extending the syndicated loan agreement. We wish Mr Zimmermann all the best for the future".

About Bastei Lübbe AG:

Bastei Lübbe AG is a German publishing house with headquarters in Cologne specialised in the publication of books, audio books and e-books with fiction and popular science content. The company's core business also includes the periodically published puzzle magazines and novel magazines. With its total of twelve publishing houses and imprints, the Bastei Lübbe group of companies 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 one of the market leaders in Germany for many years. At the same time, Bastei Lübbe is an engine for innovation in the area of digital media and distribution channels, among other things by the production of thousands of audio and eBooks. This includes the stake in the renowned game publisher "Daedalic Entertainment".
With annual sales of approx. EUR 95 million (financial year 2018/2019), Bastei Lübbe AG is one of 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


Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Head of Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 221 / 82 00 28 50
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