Thalia Mayersche makes strategic partnership with Osiander

The consolidation process among German booksellers is continuing apace with Thalia Mayersche in the driving seat

At least a dozen small to medium-sized independent booksellers have been selling out to the market leader recently without notice.

But Osiander’s shock decision to enter a strategic partnership with Thalia Mayersche is sending ripples of concern throughout the industry.

The new sales company Osiander-Vertriebsgesellschaft, in which Thalia Mayersche will hold a majority share, will handle major business areas of the two bookseller partners, mainly purchasing, IT and the online shops. The joint venture needs to be approved by the competition authorities and is expected to be up and running by October 2021.

Without mentioning Amazon directly, in a joint statement the new partnership stresses that the alliance is aimed at "strengthening the competitiveness of German booksellers against multinational players”. According to the trade newspaper buchreport, Thalia Mayersche and Amazon are locked in a tight race in the book market, with book sales of Amazon.de estimated at €1.35bn and Thalia Mayersche at €1.2bn in 2019.

Rumours that the alliance is the first step towards a takeover of Osiander — which reported sales of €104.5m in 2019 (up 9%) and runs 72 bookstores in southern Germany — have been refuted by both parties. The Riethmüller family which acquired the 424-year-old chain exactly 100 years ago will continue to be the sole owners of Osiander.

While Christian and Heinrich Riethmüller, who jointly run the chain, acknowledge that the partnership will help with “advancing digitalisation, optimising work processes and reducing costs, it will also leave us with greater flexibility for our core business”. The family plans to continue building Osiander as a “premium brand” and further expand its network of branches in the south.