Hearst buys Lagardère international magazine portfolio for €651 million

February 2011

Hearst Corporation has made the deal. It has, after several months of heavy speculation, announced its purchase of  the international press and magazine business of the French company Lagardère SCA for €651 million (about $895 million). 

The binding cash deal includes 102 Lagardère titles in 15 countries plus some 50 websites and various tablet and mobile apps. (Lagardère is selling its international holdings to concentrate on the domestic French market, where its flagships  are Elle and Paris Match.)

With the deal comes the publishing rights to 15 editions of ELLE (including making it a new partner with Transcontinental Media in Canada in Elle Quebec and Elle Canada), 10 editions of Elle Decor plus ownership of  such perennial big newsstand sellers in Canada and the U.S.  such as Woman’s Day, Car and Driver, Road & Track and Cycle World.  It also includes Red in the U.K. and Holland and significant monthly and weekly titles in many major markets, the company said.

The international publishing portfolio earned  2010 revenues of  €774 million (a little over $1 billion) and earnings of €49.6 million ($68 million).

Hearst already owned more than 200 magazines, including Esquire, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful,  Cosmopolitan, Popular Mechanics, Seventeen, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar and O, The Oprah Magazine; 15 daily and 38 weekly newspapers, the largest being the  Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union; 29 television stations and ownership in leading cable networks Lifetime, A&E, History and ESPN.