Edit Line GmbH

What Edit Line GmbH does

Edit Line Verlags- und Produktionsgesellschaft mbH, operating as Edit Line GmbH, is a privately held B2B publishing and media production company headquartered in Mainz, Germany. Founded in 1989 (with roots as a freelance journalist network dating to 1979), the company operates an end-to-end publishing service stack covering concept development, editorial, design, and production across print and digital channels. Its core products are six specialized B2B trade magazines: PSI Journal (promotional products, produced for Reed Exhibitions since 1989), display (POS marketing, since 2014), Sponsors (sports business, spun off 2006), games & business (gaming/amusement industry, spun off 2005), Bowling Business (bowling/leisure, since 2006), and B.A.D. inForm (occupational health and safety, produced for B.A.D. Gruppe since 2012). Each publication is paired with an associated website and social media presence, generating an estimated combined ~355,000 monthly online visits.

The company maintains a wholly-owned digital subsidiary, Digitalagentur Mainz reinstil (founded 2009, 12 employees), which develops web portals, apps, banner campaigns, and the firstaudit digital checklist application supporting iOS, Android, and Windows. The core technology stack for online properties consists of standard web utilities including Google Analytics, Google Webfonts, and Google Maps API. No proprietary AI/ML capabilities, patents, or third-party model dependencies are evidenced.

Revenue mechanics are diversified across four streams: subscription/recurring revenue from owned magazine titles, professional services revenue from client magazine production contracts, subscription revenue from digital products including the firstaudit SaaS-style product, and ongoing participation in the spun-off Sponsors publication. Distribution operates through B2B paid subscriptions, controlled trade show distribution (e.g., PSI Journal 25,000 copies at trade shows), and online portals. The company serves approximately 22 staff across the parent and subsidiary, with anchor enterprise clients in the promotional products, occupational health, and POS marketing industries, and maintains decades-long client relationships (some spanning 30+ years). No external institutional investment, parent company, or public listing is evidenced in the available data.

Name

Edit Line GmbH

Legal name

Edit Line Verlags- und Produktionsgesellschaft mbH

Website

https://edit-line.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Edit Line GmbH is a privately held B2B publishing company in Mainz, Germany, producing six specialized trade magazines (PSI Journal, display, Sponsors, games & business, Bowling Business, B.A.D. inForm) and operating a digital subsidiary that develops web portals, apps, and the firstaudit checklist application for enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

B2B Trade Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Copywriting & Editorial Production (BPAFAIAA)

Keywords

• B2B trade publishing
• Specialty magazines
• Editorial production services
• Digital agency services
• Trade media

Headquarters

HQ city

Mainz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Magazine Publishing (Owned Titles): Owns and operates B2B trade magazines including games & business (since 1981, market leader) and Bowling Business (since 2006, market leader). Revenues generated from subscriptions, advertising, and newsstand sales for these titles.
2. Client Magazine Production: Produces magazines on behalf of clients: PSI Journal for Reed Exhibitions Deutschland (European advertising promotional products industry, since 1998), B.A.D. inForm for B.A.D. Gruppe (occupational health and safety, since July 2012), and display (POS marketing, since 2014). Revenue from client contracts for editorial, design, and production services.
3. Digital Products and Services: Digital agency services including web portal development, e-newsletters, app development, and online advertising, as well as the firstaudit SaaS-style product for digital checklist management. Revenue from digital project work and product subscriptions.
4. Sponsors Participation: The Sponsors magazine (founded 1996, market leader in sports business) was developed by Edit Line and later spun off into a separate Sponsors Verlags GmbH in 2006. Edit Line maintains an ongoing participation in this successful publication.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Edit Line GmbH is a B2B publishing house based in Mainz, Germany, producing specialized trade magazines for niche industries including promotional products, sponsorship, amusement, visual marketing, bowling, and personnel services. Beyond print media, the company operates an in-house digital agency (Digitalagentur Mainz reinstil) that builds web platforms and runs a digital checklist mobile application (firstaudit) for iOS and Android.

Product overview

Edit Line GmbH is a publishing and media production company offering a portfolio of specialized B2B magazines, digital services, and core competencies in concept development, editorial work, design, and production. The company operates seven magazine publications (PSI Journal, Sponsors, games & business, display, Bowling Business, B·A·D inForm) alongside its digital agency reinstil and the firstaudit checklist application. Core services in concept, editorial, design, and production support both their own publications and external client projects across print and digital media.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PSI Journal Trade magazine covering the promotional products industry, providing editorial coverage, product news, and advertising opportunities for suppliers and distributors in the promotional merchandise sector.
• Sponsors Trade magazine serving the sports sponsorship and rights marketing industry, delivering editorial content on sponsorship deals, rights holders, and marketing trends for brands, agencies, and rights holders.
• games & business Trade magazine covering the amusement, gaming, and entertainment industry, including arcades, family entertainment centers, and related leisure operators.
• display Trade magazine serving visual marketing, signage, retail display, and point-of-sale advertising professionals.
• Bowling Business Trade publication serving bowling center operators, equipment manufacturers, and the broader bowling industry across German-speaking markets.
• B·A·D inForm Trade magazine covering personnel services, employee leasing, occupational health and safety, and workforce solutions topics.
• firstaudit Digital checklist and audit mobile application for iOS and Android, used to digitize inspection, audit, and compliance workflows for businesses and field operators.
• Digitalagentur Mainz reinstil In-house digital agency providing web design, web development, and digital production services for B2B clients, complementing the company's print publishing capabilities with online and digital offerings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4 publications established as market leaders in their respective niches (games & business since 1981, Bowling Business since 2006, Sponsors since 1996)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• display publication (acquisition/partnership)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014The display magazine (POS marketing B2B publication, founded 1993) has been under Edit Line's roof since 2014. Since October 2014, display has been relaunched with new content and profile. The cross-media platform transformation is underway. The display Superstar Award is organized in partnership with the viscom trade fair.
• B.A.D. GruppemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2012Since July 2012, the international B.A.D. Gruppe (occupational health and safety services, 2,800 experts serving 250,000 companies and approximately 4 million employees) has been a client of Edit Line. Edit Line produces the quarterly customer/industry magazine B.A.D. inForm (65,000 circulation) with photo reportages, news, and background articles in German and English editions.
• Digitalagentur Mainz reinstilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Founded in 2009 from the Edit Line Kommunikationsdesign department, Digitalagentur Mainz reinstil is a wholly-owned or closely affiliated digital agency with 12 employees. It develops web portals, apps, banner campaigns, and the firstaudit digital checklist product. Programming partners include digitalagentur-mainz.de and firstaudit.de.
• Sponsors Verlags GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Sponsors was founded by Edit Line in January 1996 and developed into the unchallenged market leader in sports business publishing. After 10 years of operation under Edit Line, it was spun off in 2006 into an independent Sponsors Verlags GmbH with headquarters in Hamburg and Mainz. Marco Klewenhagen and Manfred Schlösser serve as entrepreneurial partners. Edit Line maintains an ongoing participation/ownership interest in this successful spin-off company.
• games & business VerlagsgesellschaftcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005The games & business magazine, originally founded as Muenzautomat in 1949, came to Edit Line in 1981 and was renamed in 2001. In 2005 it was spun off into an independent games & business Verlagsgesellschaft. The publication is the market leader for the German gaming/amusement machine industry.
• Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1989Edit Line developed the PSI Journal for Reed Exhibitions Deutschland in 1989 as the members magazine for the largest European business network in the promotional products industry. The magazine has been relaunched multiple times and is produced in English and German. Edit Line handles editorial and design for this flagship industry publication.
• viscom (Trade Fair)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe display Superstar Award is organized in partnership with the viscom trade fair, where the award ceremony takes place. Visually communicating at the trade fair venue reinforces the editorial positioning of display magazine.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• WEKA Media: Munich/Stuttgart-based German B2B publisher producing specialist trade content, professional reference works and digital subscription products for regulated industries. Comparable in operating multi-vertical B2B publishing with print + digital + subscription revenue mix.
• dfv (Deutscher Fachverlag): Frankfurt-based German B2B media company publishing trade and specialist magazines across food, retail and industrial verticals. Directly comparable to Edit Line in operating B2B trade titles, producing print magazines, digital content, and events for industry-specific audiences.
• games & business Verlagsgesellschaft: Mainz-based publisher of the German gaming/amusement machine industry magazine, spun off from Edit Line in 2005. Operates an identical market-leader B2B trade publication model in the Automatenwirtschaft vertical.
• Vogel Communications Group: Würzburg-based German B2B media group with a portfolio of trade magazines, digital platforms, events and agency services across automotive, IT and industrial B2B verticals. Closely comparable to Edit Line in cross-media B2B publishing structure and niche vertical focus.
• Ebner Verlag: Ulm-based German B2B media house specialising in trade magazines and digital channels for niche industries including electronics, optics and printing. Operating model, niche-vertical focus and customer-publishing style closely mirror Edit Line's approach.
• Sponsors Verlags GmbH: Hamburg/Mainz-based German sports-business media company spun off from Edit Line in 2006. Operates the market-leading Sponsors magazine and sports-business congresses with a directly analogous vertical B2B publishing model.

Regional players

• Haymarket Media Group: UK-based international B2B and consumer media company operating specialist trade titles across multiple verticals. Comparable as a multi-vertical B2B trade publisher, though primarily UK/US-geared rather than German-specialised.

Broad incumbents

• Hubert Burda Media: Offenburg-based broad German media group operating consumer and B2B titles, digital media and agencies. Overlaps with Edit Line in magazine publishing operations but at significantly larger scale and broader portfolio mix.
• Springer Nature (Trade Media division): Global academic and trade publisher operating a portfolio of B2B trade magazines and digital media platforms across professional verticals. Overlaps with Edit Line in B2B trade publishing, but operates at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Wiley (B2B media portfolio): US-based global publisher that has historically operated significant B2B trade media assets. Comparable business model (B2B trade publishing with digital migration), though at multi-billion-dollar scale and broader portfolio breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/reinstil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/edit-line-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Edit Line GmbH