Press Release: Thalia Acquires Online Book Retailer buecher.de

• Thalia acquires all assets of online bookseller buecher.de with immediate effect as part of a business transfer
• All employees of buecher.de GmbH & Co. KG will be retained
• The German Federal Cartel Office approved the transaction on November 4, 2024

Augsburg/Hagen, November 4, 2024. Thalia Bücher GmbH, the leading omnichannel book retailer in the German-speaking market, has acquired all assets of online bookseller buecher.de with immediate effect as part of a business transfer. Accordingly, all employees of buecher.de GmbH & Co. KG will be taken on and will retain their jobs under unchanged conditions. The agreements were duly and legally executed between buecher.de insolvency administrator Christian Plail of the law firm SGP Schneider Geiwitz and Thalia.

On Monday, November 4, 2024, the German Federal Cartel Office granted clearance for the transaction. The creditors’ committee of buecher.de GmbH & Co. KG had already approved the execution of the contracts.

The investor process confirmed the strong positioning of the buecher.de brand, with several interested parties competing intensively for the acquisition. “This outcome is a major success for buecher.de and its creditors, and I am very pleased,” said SGP restructuring expert Christian Plail.

Thalia also expressed its satisfaction with the transaction. Ingo Kretzschmar, CEO of Thalia: “buecher.de is an excellent addition to the Thalia Group. buecher.de has loyal customers and will continue to operate under its brand name. This acquisition is not only a great step for Thalia but also a very positive signal for the sustainable competitiveness of the German book retail market.”

The purchase price has not been disclosed. buecher.de customers will be integrated into the transfer in full compliance with data protection laws. The purchase price will flow into the insolvency estate, from which creditors will be satisfied proportionately at the end of the proceedings.

buecher.de employs 34 staff at its Augsburg location and generated approximately €60 million in revenue in the 2023 financial year. The company was part of the WB D2C Group. Due to its strong dependency on its sister company Weltbild, buecher.de was also forced to file for insolvency in July 2024.

About Thalia

Thalia is the leading omnichannel book retailer in the DACH region, employing around 6,800 people. Through a network of currently 394 stores in Germany and Austria, online shops, and its proprietary app, customers can shop around the clock. In Switzerland, Thalia holds a 50% stake in the approximately 60 Orell Füssli Thalia AG bookstores.

Thalia also partners with independent bookstores, providing its expertise and digital know-how. Today, the Thalia network includes more than 500 bookstores. The company’s portfolio is complemented by Thalia Digital Retail Solutions in Berlin (developing digital solutions for retail), Lehmanns Media (a specialist in professional information), and Thalia Retail Concepts (TRC) for system retail. Its approximately 40 exclusive private-label brands complement the book range with curated gift and trend collections.

As a co-founder of the tolino Alliance in 2013, Thalia remains part of a network of around 2,000 bookstores. The company focuses on digital innovation and in-person encounters, positioning its stores as vibrant cultural hubs. Thalia is also actively committed to social values such as education and sustainability, with a special emphasis on promoting children’s and young people’s reading skills. In the 2023/24 fiscal year, Thalia and its partner companies generated revenues of more than €1.9 billion.

About buecher.de

Based in Augsburg, buecher.de GmbH & Co. KG has stood for reading and playing, learning and living for more than 25 years. With a product range of over 15 million items across books, music, films, software, technology, games, toys, and more, buecher.de serves around 13 million customers throughout all stages of life. A simple ordering process and fast delivery directly to customers’ homes or preferred addresses have made buecher.de a trusted online retailer — time and again, for many years.