PW: Bertelsmann Drops BOL IPO

Bertelsmann has reversed an earlier decision to float bol.com, its global e-commerce mechanism for selling books and entertainment. The plan had been to list bol.com on the Frankfurt stock exchange's "new market," Nemax, the German equivalent of NASDAQ. But it is now thought at group headquarters in Gutersloh that the steep decline in Nemax since mid-March would not do justice to the growth potential of the Bertelsmann venture.

A 100% Bertelsmann company, bol.com, is operated in most foreign markets as a partnership--in France with Havas, in Spain with Planeta, in Italy with Mondadori--all, as it happens, market leaders in books in their respective territories. Bol.com management makes no secret of the fact that it is now looking toward Asia for expansion.