Early contract extension by the Supervisory Board: Soheil Dastyari confirmed as Chairman of the Management Board of Bastei Lübbe AG for a further five years

Cologne, 8 October 2024: The Supervisory Board of Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) has unanimously decided to extend the contract of CEO Soheil Dastyari by a further five years until 31 March 2030.

The Supervisory Board thus reaffirms its confidence in Soheil Dastyari's strategic and operational leadership, expressing both its trust and appreciation for his ongoing direction.

 "With his commitment, creativity and implementation expertise, Soheil Dastyari has played a major role in the successful growth of Bastei Lübbe AG in recent years. The Supervisory Board is therefore very pleased to be able to continue this successful cooperation in the long term with the early extension of his contract for a further five years until 2030," commented Carsten Dentler, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bastei Lübbe AG, on the decision.

He adds: "This provides Bastei Lübbe AG with an excellent starting point for the implementation of further growth plans in an exciting but also challenging environment. On this basis, we are creating the conditions for the successful continuation and stabilization of the broad-based, independent publishing house in the coming years. We are convinced that with this decision we have taken a further step towards realizing the existing potential that we see in the future development of the publishing group."

The Supervisory Board is convinced that this long-term decision will ensure the sustainable pursuit of the strategic path taken and create a high level of reliability for all of the company's stakeholders.

Soheil Dastyari took office as Chairman of the Management Board of Bastei Lübbe AG in March 2022. Since then, the experienced publishing manager and communications expert has played a key role in shaping Bastei Lübbe's highly successful development into the leading independent trade publisher in Germany. Revenues and earnings have increased significantly in the past two financial years. The share price also developed positively and reached its all-time high in August 2024.

The publishing group's strategic approach lies in broad portfolio development and improving the performance of the individual business divisions, with a particular focus on expanding the community-driven publishing brands and the digital business divisions.

Soheil Dastyari, CEO of Bastei Lübbe AG: "I would like to express my sincere thanks for the trust and appreciation of the Supervisory Board. At the same time, I would like to pass on my compliments to the entire team at Bastei Lübbe. It was only together that we were able to achieve our goals and together we will do everything we can in the coming years to continue on our successful path and success story."
 

About Bastei Lübbe AG:
Bastei Lübbe AG is the leading independent publishing group in Germany. Based in Cologne, it publishes books, audio books and e-books featuring high-quality popular entertainment as well as periodical novel booklets. In total, the company owns fifteen imprints. Bastei Lübbe sees itself as an innovation driver in the industry and has successfully established several rapidly expanding community-driven business models, among other things. Bastei Lübbe AG is also a pioneer of digital media, producing thousands of audio and eBooks, which are distributed via all digital exploitation channels. The parent company generates annual revenues of over EUR 110 million (2023/2024 financial year). Its shares have been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (GSIN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) since 2013. Further information can be found at www.bastei-luebbe.de.

Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Head of Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 (0)221 8200 2850
E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de