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German media companies Bertelsmann and Holtzbrinck are to join forces and create an online distribution platform to sell e-books to end-consumers.
While the business partners have already submitted the paperwork to the European Commission in Brussels for approval, most details are still being kept under wraps. A date for the platform to go online has also not been set yet.
Few facts have been made public so far but the focus of the joint venture will be on German-language books. The platform will be mainly fed through Bertelsmann’s and Holtzbrinck’s own publishing activities but will also sell e-books from third parties.
Holtzbrinck will be a direct partner, while Bertelsmann will be represented by Random House and reputedly also Arvato Services whose expertise lies with customer management.
The joint venture raises questions about the future of Libreka, the digital platform and databank of the German trade association Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels that has recently announced its own e-book agenda.
Plans to pool the e-book business for German publishers might now be in jeopardy.