Leipzig – The Bookwire Group, one of the leading international companies in digital publishing technology, has sold Zebralution Music GmbH to Warner Music Group. The music business had previously been spun off from the Zebralution Group, which was acquired in early 2026. This transaction fully redirects Bookwire's remaining Zebralution business towards digital publishing.
An international CMS team led jointly by Dr Jörg Lips (Corporate/M&A) and Jesko Nobiling (Tax) provided Bookwire with comprehensive legal advice on preparing and executing the transaction. Dr Kevin Schmidt (Corporate/M&A) was responsible for executing the deal. As part of the transaction process involving an international group of bidders, the advisory work centred on structuring the preliminary carve-out and providing corporate law support for the carve-off in Germany and the Netherlands.
Bookwire GmbH was founded in Frankfurt in 2010 as a service provider specialising in distributing e-books and digital content on behalf of publishers. Since then Bookwire has grown to become one of the leading international companies in digital publishing technology. The company currently has over 170 employees in Germany, the UK, Spain, France, Brazil, Italy and the US, who support more than 3,500 publishers in the fields of e-books, audiobooks, podcasts and print-on-demand. Around 2,200,000 e-books and 350,000 audiobooks are delivered to all relevant distribution channels, analysed and marketed via the "Bookwire OS – One Solution" software.
Zebralution Music combines services for independent labels and artists with digital distribution technology. The founders and co-CEOs Konrad von Löhneysen and Sascha Lazimbat will continue running the company. At the same time Zebralution Music will gain access to additional technological solutions and resources from the Warner Music Group's portfolio.
