Lagardère considers sale of Elle and international titles

The French conglomerate is understood to be in "informal talks" with international publishers Hearst and Bauer, as Lagardère looks to downsize its number of global brands.

A Lagardère spokeswoman said that it is considering the sale of any proportion of its 212 international magazines in 45 countries around the world, potentially affecting the stable owned by Hachette Filipacchi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the French Lagardère group.

Lagardère is happy with the size of its portfolio in France, but wishes to optimise its profits elsewhere.

The spokeswoman said, "We are in informal talks with other publishers to discuss the international press magazine business. The objective is to reduce costs following the economic crisis and the advertising crisis. It’s difficult to have the right size to be competitive in the current climate.

"We wish to explore under what conditions a partnership might work".

Lagardère was, however, quick to clarify that any sale of fashion title Elle would be restricted, as it wants to keep editorial control over the brand.

The spokeswoman added, "Elle is a beautiful brand with an international presence and 43 editions and the group wishes to keep editorial control of Elle."

Lagardère did not wish to make any further comment on the details of the talks.

Lagardère’s decision to downsize internationally in the near future casts doubt over whether Hachette Filipacchi would now seriously consider acquiring BBC Worldwide’s magazines in the same financial year. The publisher was recently tipped as an early contender for the potential partnership.

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk.