Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller

music label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

s. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and pop music to classical music and a children's catalogue. In addition to the development and marketing of music, the group also deals with the production, logistics and distribution of CDs, DVDs, vinyls, and books at the production site of the subsidiary optimal media GmbH in Röbel/Müritz as well as with services in the online and book business.

History

Edel was founded in 1986 by the current chairman of the board of directors and the majority shareholder Michael Haentjes as a one-man company under the name ''edel Gesellschaft für Produktmarketing mbH'' and initially dealt exclusively with mail order for film music. In 1992, the company name was changed to ''edel Company Music GmbH''. The company grew steadily and recorded sales of more than 150 million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

in 1995. In 1998, under the new company name ''edel music AG'', the IPO (WKN 564950) and the listing on the Neuer Markt followed. The first stock market listing was 101 DM. The IPO brought the company a gross capital inflow of almost 60 DM million. As part of a global strategy, investments were acquired abroad, for example the

PIAS Group PIAS is a British recording, licensing, distribution, sales and marketing company for independent music. The company was founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot in Brussels, Belgium,

in Belgium, which also included ''Connected Music Vertrieb GmbH'', founded by Haentjes in 1997, and '' Eagle Rock,'' London. In 2000, more than 1 billion DM in consolidated sales was achieved. In July 1999, Edel purchased an 80% stake in

RED Distribution RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty i ...

from

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

. In connection with the general crisis in the music business, the collapse of the Neuer Markt and the high costs of integrating the additional companies, a crisis followed in 2001, which jeopardised the company's continued existence. In 2002, Edel and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants implemented an extensive corporate restructuring program. Parts of the company and shareholdings were repelled and loss-making companies were closed. Of more than 1,700 employees, about 750 remained in the company. Thanks to this consolidation and the stable business of the manufacturer's subsidiary, positive business figures were again achieved. At the end of the short financial year 2001 (30.09.) Edel changed from listing in the Neuer Markt to the Regulated Market / General Standard of the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Loca ...

, which was transferred to the Regulated Market in 2007. In February 2007, ''edel music AG'' took over the book division of ''Pabel-Moewig'' with cookbooks, guides, puzzle books, children's books and some licenses such as the silver volumes of the science fiction series

Perry Rhodan ''Perry Rhodan'' is a West German/ German space opera franchise, named after its hero. It commenced in 1961 and has been ongoing for decades, written by an ever-changing team of authors. Having sold approximately two billion copies (in novel ...

, thus expanding its media division. At the Annual General Meeting in May 2007 it was decided to remove the addition "music" in the company name. The company then operated under the name ''edel AG'' until 2010. In December 2009, the listing on the Regulated Market was revoked. The stock has since been traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In 2010, Edel took over 75% of the then ''ZS'' publishing house, followed by the remaining 25% in October 2014. In January 2011, the spelling of the company name changed to ''Edel AG''. In March 2011, ''Edel AG'' finally acquired the evaluation rights for the TV and cinema films around the cartoon characters ''Pettersson and Findus'' from the insolvent ''TV-Loonland AG''. In October 2012, ''Edel AG'' acquired 100% of the shares in ''Brilliant Classics B.V.,'' which is one of the leading companies in the field of classical music. The label, based in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...

, Netherlands, sells its products through a worldwide network of distributors. In July 2014, Edel acquired the catalogue of Jazz label

MPS Records MPS Records was a German jazz record company and label founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" (Music Production Black Forest). History Originally based in Villingen, MPS was founded as the su ...

from

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Since October 2015, Edel holds 75% of ''Pandastorm Pictures GmbH''. In March 2016, Jonas Haentjes, the son of the company's founder, took over the position of Director Corporate Development at Edel. As of December 2017, Michael Haentjes and Jonas Haentjes jointly led ''Edel AG'' as co-CEOs, and Jonas Haentjes was appointed to the

board of management A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of ''Edel AG''. Dr. Joerg Pfuhl, Charles Caldas and Joel Weinstein are members of the Edel

supervisory board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

. In April 2018, the

executive board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and supervisory board of ''Edel AG'' decided to convert the company into a limited partnership for shares ( KGaA). The change of form is intended to ensure the influence of the family after a generational succession. In addition, the general partner of KGaA should be given the legal form of a

European Company A ''societas Europaea'' (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute f ...

(SE). In March 2019, the generational transition was completed and the change of legal form to SE & Co. KGaA was completed. Jonas Haentjes has been the sole CEO ever since.

Business divisions and participations

Sources: Business units and shares 100%: ''Edel Music & Entertainment GmbH'' with the divisions ''earMUSIC, Edel Motion, Edel Kids, Edel Kultur, Edel Distribution.'' 100%: ''optimal media GmbH'' with the areas of production and distribution of sound and data media, production and distribution of books. to 66.8%: ''Kontor Records GmbH'', dance label with the brands ''Kontor Top of the Clubs'' and ''Kontor House of House''. 100%: ''Kontor New Media GmbH'' with the areas Mobile Entertainment, Internet and Digital Distribution. 100%: ''Edel Verlagsgruppe GmbH'', Publishing Group. Furthermore, Edel holds 100% of the shares of ''Pandastorm Pictures GmbH'' and 100% of the Dutch ''Brilliant Classics B.V''.

History

Business divisions and participations

References

External links