Westermann is a German publisher founded in 1838. Its imprints include Schroedel, Diesterweg, Schoeningh, Westermann, Winklers, Spectra, Logo, Advesco, Schubi, E. Dorner, Westermann Wien, Jugend & Volk, Arena Verlag, Westermann Lernspielverlage, Bildungsverlag EINS and Audio Media Verlag.
Westermann’s parent company is Medien Union GmbH, which has a stake in several large German regional newspapers including Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgarter Zeitung, Die Rheinpfalz, and the national daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, as well as in a number of radio stations.
Medien Union was founded in 1947 and is the parent company of the regional daily Rheinpfalz, which was founded in September 1945 with help of the Allied Forces that occupied Germany after WW II, and is controlled today by the Schaub family (a 50.4% share through Dieter Schaub, son of founder Joseph Schaub), and the families of co-founders Arthur Lenk, Hans Wipprecht, Xaver Resch,and the Nagel family.
Analysis & Key Developments
Financial
Westermann’s group revenues for 2016 were valued at 300 million EUR. The results were flat with the prior year.
Internal Organization
During 2016 the imprint Advesco merged with the imprint Bildungsverlag EINS.
Partnerships
In August 2016 the group announced its cooperation with the start-up fabmaker GmbH, which develops 3D printers and related teaching concepts for the education sector.
In May 2017 the Westermann group began a partnership with LEGO® Education in order to offer students the opportunity to design LEGO® Education kits and bring their designs to life by applying science and technology.
Divestment
In February 2017, the Westermann group announced the shutdown of Industrie Service Braunschweig (ISB), due to continuing economic difficulties and a lacking perspective for an improvement.
Digital
The Westermann group launched its new educational media portal Lernando in August 2016, which makes 50,000 products from all major educational media publishers available for purchase. The product range includes available textbooks, workbooks, learning aids and learning games from all German publishers.
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