Vivendi acquires French publisher Editis

VivendiVivendi has acquired 100% of the share capital of Editis, the second-largest French-language publishing group. The share purchase agreement with the vendor, Spanish group Planeta, was entered into on November 15, 2018, based on an enterprise value of €900 million. The French Competition Authority authorized the transaction unconditionally on January 2, 2019.

Vivendi and Editis share a recognised expertise in the development and management of rights to works of culture and the same passion for managing creativity and talent. This acquisition is a logical step in the building of a large content, media and communications group. It also marks the return of this French publishing powerhouse to a European group with a global reach.

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Vivendi’s Chief Executive Officer, has taken on the additional role of Chairman of Editis. Pierre Conte has been confirmed as Chief Executive Officer of Editis.

Editis encompasses some fifty prestigious publishing houses (Nathan, Robert Laffont, Julliard, Plon, Belfond, Presses de la Cité, Pocket, Solar, …). With a large portfolio of internationally-acclaimed authors, 4,000 new books published each year and a catalogue of more than 45,000 titles, Editis is active in the fields of fiction, children’s books, non-fiction, graphic and illustrated books, educational & reference books. Editis employs 2,400 people.

France, Paris

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Lagardère receives three bids for magazines

lagardereAccording to French newspaper Le Figaro, French media group Lagardère has received three preliminary offers for the magazines it has put up for sale and expects firm offers by Feb. 15. These were from Be magazine founder Didier Quillot, Marc Laufer of NewsCo and Pascale Chevalier of ReWorld Media.

In total, 25 offers have been received, but only five of these were for all of the publications.

In October last year Lagardère said it planned to sell 10 magazine titles, including Premiere, Psychologies and Be. The 1o magazine have a combined annual turnover of about €50 million and make a loss of between €1.5 and €2 million.

Le Figaro said another reason the price tag was likely to be small was because Lagardère would finance departures as part of a law in France that allows journalists to resign with compensation when the ownership of their publication changes. This could cost between €5 and €7 million.

Le Figaro report – Lagardère: trois offres crédibles pour le rachat de ses magazines.

France, Paris

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