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Guetersloh (pte046/07.05.2003/15:58) - The Bertelsmann group http://www.bertelsmann.de has sold the Netherlands division of online bookseller BOL to the Weltbild publishing group. Weltbild is in turn selling holtzbrinck networXs AG and T-Online Venture Fund.
BOL will be purchased in equal parts through a common company, as announced by investors today, Wednesday. With a client base of 850,000, BOL is the largest online bookseller in the Netherlands. The sales price has not yet been announced.
Bertelsmann has also presented its results for the first quarter 2003, in which it recorded a loss of 399m euros. In the same period last year the media company made a profit of 2.5bn euros (mainly through its sale of AOL Europe). Turnover dropped from 4.3bn euros to 3.9bn euros.
"Bol.com is a well-established brand whose value we wish to expand," said Klaus Driever, manager of the Weltbild publishing group. The name has 90 per cent brand recognition in the Netherlands. By its own estimate, Weltbild is the largest media dealer in German-speaking countries.
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