Highlights of the First Six Months

- Major consolidation moves agreed in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium, for significant value creation
- Strong growth in streaming services: TV Now in Germany and Videoland in the Netherlands together surpass the 3 million subscriber mark
- Fremantle expands content production business with new Global Factual unit for high-end documentaries

- Renowned fiction and nonfiction and ongoing audio boom fuel revenues and earnings growth
- Focus on diversity and inclusion: investment in new, multicultural content for publishing programs, and commitment to enhanced diversity in the publishing teams
- Organic growth through launch of new publishing imprints in the UK, Germany, the US, India, South Africa and Australia

- G+J invests €5 million in expansion of its fast-growing Plus offerings such as “Stern Plus”
- With “Guidos Deko Queen”, the publisher expands its successful personality magazine segment and launches a new type of home and lifestyle magazine, flanked by an eponymous new TV show on VOX
- “Stern” shows social commitment by collecting 350,000 signatures for the Bundestag petition “Pflege in Würde” (“Care in Dignity”), while “Brigitte” and “Eltern” advocate putting an end to discrimination against parents

- BMG delivers best first-half-year result since it was founded
- Creating value together: BMG and KKR join forces to acquire music rights
- BMG continues to focus on service, fairness and transparency, leading the music industry debate about justice

- Arvato Supply Chain Solutions increases usable logistics space by around 100,000 m², creating conditions for further growth
- Arvato Systems systematically expands cloud computing expertise and develops into a leading provider of cloud migration products and services
- Arvato Financial Solutions expands its existing “pay-afterdelivery” cooperation with a leading online mail order company and successfully transfers it to other national markets in Europe

- DeutschlandCard multi-partner rewards program enjoys profitable growth and expands its partner network to include EDEKA Nord
- Core market of books sees further systematic expansion through successful integration of two US production facilities acquired in late 2020
- Rotogravure capacities adjusted to reflect sharp drop in demand: print production at Prinovis site in Nuremberg discontinued as planned on April 30

- The coronavirus pandemic accelerates shift to digital and blended learning solutions
- Relias’s new ed-tech based training program meets growing demand for home health service skills in the US
- Udacity launches School of Cybersecurity to help enterprises and governments combat increase in cybercrime

- Bertelsmann Investments’ global portfolio grows to more than 260 young companies and funds
- Bertelsmann signs acquisition of 25 percent equity stake and 46 percent of voting rights in Nasdaq-listed education provider Afya
- Focus on expansion of existing portfolio and 23 new investments via BAI and BDMI funds