Lagardère Sells Stake in Marie Claire Magazine
PARIS — France’s Lagardère Group has added its Marie Claire stake to the growing list of titles exiting the group as it focuses on publishing and travel retail, marking shifts in an industry hit by the migration of advertising from print to digital channels.
The group has sold its 42 percent stake in the women’s title to its parent company, the Marie Claire Group.
Lagardère, which owns Paris Match magazine and publishing house Hachette, recorded a 4.4 percent rise in first-half revenues on a like-for-like basis, weighed down by a 1.5 percent drop in business at its Lagardère Active division, which houses its media business with radio and television channels as well as magazines.
In its results statement, published after the market closed on Thursday, Lagardère noted that advertising revenues in its magazine publishing activity fell 6.7 percent year-over-year.
The company had earlier this year announced plans to sell the French version of Elle magazine to Czech Media Invest, a large media company in the Czech Republic that is partly owned and managed by billionaire Daniel Kretínsky. The group also bought radio channels in Eastern Europe that had belonged to Lagardère for 73 million euros.
Lagardère’s agreement to sell magazines to Czech Media Invest includes the online version of Elle in France, as well as the magazines Version Femina, Art & Décoration and Télé 7 Jours.
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