Publishers should monitor how OverDrive integrates Onleihe’s German-language catalogue and whether unified terms follow.

OverDrive has acquired divibib GmbH, the ekz-Group subsidiary behind the Onleihe digital lending platform, in a partnership that unites the two largest library aggregators in the German-speaking world.

The deal, announced 11 August, will eventually migrate Onleihe’s public library partners onto OverDrive’s Libby app while preserving divibib’s Reutlingen headquarters and local relationships.

Consolidating a Fragmented Market

Onleihe has served libraries across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) since 2007, building a catalogue of roughly 500,000 titles and developing its own CARE DRM solution based on the open-source Readium LCP standard.

OverDrive, meanwhile, has operated in the DACH region for more than a decade and established its European headquarters in Munich earlier this year. Its Libby platform already supports over 600 library partners in the region and recorded nearly ten million digital checkouts in 2025 alone.

Strategic Rationale

The acquisition is the latest move by KKR-owned OverDrive to expand through consolidation. Since the private-equity firm acquired the company from Rakuten in 2020, OverDrive has absorbed RBdigital’s library division, purchased Kanopy in 2021, and retired its legacy app in favour of Libby.

For ekz, the sale allows a return to core competencies: physical media processing, fixtures, and equipment.

The View From The Beach

German e-lending remains governed by voluntary licensing rather than statutory Public Lending Right, with library licence fees generating roughly €16 million annually against a backdrop of intensifying borrowing.

A 2024 DIW Econ study found that e-lending users borrowed an average of 19.3 e-books per person in 2022 – nearly triple the 2020 figure.

A single, scaled platform could streamline publisher negotiations and expand reach, yet it also reduces competitive pressure in a market where pricing and windowing are already contentious. Publishers should monitor how OverDrive integrates Onleihe’s German-language catalogue and whether unified terms follow.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.