Germany's Weltbild insolvency

[fjtorres]

From Publishers Weekly:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...nsolvency.html

In the long term, the showdown seemed hardly avoidable, as the owner’s low key commitment had to clash with the plan of the management, to radically renew Weltbild over a period of three years, until 2016, by closing many of its 300 bricks-and-mortar outlets, and instead transform it into Germany’s leading domestic Internet platform for books and media.

Led by CEO Carel Halff, Weltbild had become the number two online book retailer in Germany, behind Amazon, while multiplying its various digital initiatives. Focusing on a strategy defined by digital and Internet sales, Halff was betting early on e-books, introducing devices and promoting an expanding catalogue of titles – which included loads of self-published as well as erotic titles, which again drew harsh criticism from the Church. In 2013, Weltbild became a driving force in the Tolino alliance, a consortium formed around a line of e-readers and tablets, which included not only Deutsche Telekom as a technology partner, but also Thalia as the largest chain book store and a direct competitor. In November, Weltbild also announced plans to extend its share in buecher.de, an online bookselling platform co-owned by the Holtzbrinck group (which seemed to be ready to divest its stake) and Axel Springer.

All these simultaneous initiatives may have overburdened the complex ownership structure, as it required a significant financial commitment in a long term plan. When holiday sales stayed much below expectations, and the required investment skyrocketed from € 60 million ($ 82 million) to an estimated € 160 million ($ 220 million), the owners decided to pull the plug.

More at the source, including the (by now) the obligatory Amazon reference even though Germany is a fixed price market.

They're calling it a "Borders incident" but it sounds more like a B&N scenario given their involvement in Tolino.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

From Publishers Weekly:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...nsolvency.html



More at the source, including the (by now) the obligatory Amazon reference even though Germany is a fixed price market.

They're calling it a "Borders incident" but it sounds more like a B&N scenario given their involvement in Tolino.

Some might want to paint a bigger picture with broader strokes, but I see the inherent problem of poor business management and a loss of control of the cash flow.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by frahse

Some might want to paint a bigger picture with broader strokes, but I see the inherent problem of poor business management and a loss of control of the cash flow.

I see it as more B&N than Borders because they identified the right moves to survive but overstretched their finances. And it doesn't look like they're headed for total liquidation like Borders.