Louis Hachette Group
 | |
 Headquarters of Louis Hachette Group S.A. at Rue de Presbourg, Paris | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Euronext Paris: ALHG
Euronext Growth | |
| Industry | Publishing, Media, Travel Retail, Live Entertainment, Sports club |
| Predecessors | Vivendi publishing division |
| Founded |
|
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | , France |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jean-Christophe Thiery (CEO) Arnaud Lagardère (Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors) Yannick Bolloré (director) Grégoire Castaing (deputy CEO) |
| Revenue |  €9.619 billion[1] (2025) |
| Owner | Bolloré (31%) Arnaud Lagardère (8.7%) Other shareholders (60.3%) |
Number of employees | 33,957 (2025)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Lagardère (65.73%[3]) Prisma Media |
| Website | www.louishachettegroup.com |
Louis Hachette Group S.A. (LHG) is a French conglomerate specialising in publishing, travel retail and media, with its origins in the Hachette bookshop founded in 1826. Louis Hachette Group is controlled by French businessman Vincent Bolloré and his family.[4]
Formed from the spin-off of Vivendi in December 2024, the new independent entity holds 65.73%[5] of the Lagardère group (Hachette Livre, Larousse, Fayard, Relay, Le Journal du dimanche, Europe 1, etc.) as well as 86.42% of the French press group Prisma Media (Voici, Femme Actuelle, Geo (France), Télé-Loisirs, Capital, etc.).[6]
France's leading publisher since 2004 and the world's 6th largest publishing group (the world's third-largest consumer publishing group, excluding professional publishing[7]), Louis Hachette Group has its origins in the Hachette publishing group, founded by Louis Hachette in 1826 after the purchase of the Parisian bookshop Brédif.[8][9]
History
[edit]In December 2023, Vivendi announced that it was carrying out a feasibility study into a plan to split its activities into 4 entities: Canal+, Havas, a publishing and distribution company (combining Lagardère and Prisma Media), and an investment company.[10]
On 29 October 2024, the new Louis Hachette Group was created as a publishing and distribution company, leaving Vivendi as an investment company. On 30 October 2024, Vivendi and the new Louis Hachette Group entity entered into a partial demerger agreement, enabling LHG to hold a 66.53% stake in Lagardère and a 100% stake in Prisma Media in the event of a favourable vote by Vivendi shareholders.[11][8]
The company started trading at Euronext Paris on 16 December 2024, the shares were trading at 1.42 euros on that day, up 18% on the opening price.[12]
In May 2026, major publishers including Hachette sued Meta Platforms, alleging that Meta used their books and journal articles, without their permission, to train Llama.[13]
Activities
[edit]The activities of Louis Hachette Group are carried out by two main entities:
- Lagardère SA
- Lagardère Publishing
- Lagardère Travel Retail (commercial retail in airports)
- Relay
- Paradies Lagardère
- Aelia[14]
- etc.
- Lagardère News (media)
- Le Journal du dimanche and its supplements Le JDNews and Le JDMag[15]
- and the Elle licence
- Lagardère Radio
- Lagardère Live Entertainment (entertainment)
- Lagardère Paris Racing (sports club)
- Prisma Media
- Femme actuelle
- Télé-Loisirs
- Prima
- Voici
- Geo (France)
- Ça m'Intéresse
- National Geographic (France)
- Neon
- Capital
- Harvard Business Review France
- Simone
Shareholders
[edit]At 5 May 2026:[16]
| Bolloré SE | 31 % |
| Arnaud Lagardère | 8.7 % |
| Other shareholders | 60.3 % |
Governance
[edit]Management
[edit]Jean-Christophe Thiery: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Louis Hachette Group[17]
Grégoire Castaing: Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Louis Hachette Group[18]
Board of directors
[edit]Jean-Christophe Thiery: Chairman of the Board of Directors
Arnaud Lagardère: Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors[19]
Yannick Bolloré: director[20]
Sophie Chassat: independent director
Maud Fontenoy: independent director
Arnaud de Puyfontaine: director[21]
References
[edit]- ↑ Boursorama. "Société LOUIS HACHETTE GROUP". Boursorama (in French). Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ https://www.boursorama.com/cours/societe/profil/1rPALHG/
- ↑ https://www.zonebourse.com/cours/action/LOUIS-HACHETTE-GROUP-S-A-178441139/societe/
- ↑ "Le groupe Bolloré veut créer Louis Hachette Group, une holding pour ses activités d'édition". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ↑ "LOUIS HACHETTE GROUP S.A." Zone Bourse. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- ↑ "Simplified Organisation Chart at 5 May 2026". Louis Hachette Group. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
- ↑ "Hachette en Bourse, un choix rare dans le monde de l'édition". Les Echos. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- 1 2 "The World's Largest Publishers, 2025". Publishers Weekly. 16 October 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- ↑ Mollier, Jean-Yves (1999). Louis Hachette, 1800-1864 : le fondateur d'un empire. Paris: Fayard. p. 130-135. ISBN 2-213-60279-4.
- ↑ "Vivendi envisage finalement une scission en quatre entités". Les Echos (in French). 30 January 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ↑ AGEFI. "Vivendi détaille son projet de scission avant l'assemblée générale du 9 décembre". lesechos.fr (in French).
- ↑ Nostro, Gianluca Lo; Marchandon, Leo; Loève, Florence (16 December 2024). Nissi, Milla (ed.). "Canal+ falls, Havas and Louis Hachette up on market debut post Vivendi split". Reuters. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
- ↑ "Major publishers sue Meta for copyright infringement over AI training". CNA. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
- ↑ "Le groupe se renforce dans les commerces". Les Echos. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- ↑ "Une enquête montre comment le « JDMag » est une usine à travail dissimulé au sein du groupe Bolloré". L'Humanité. 8 April 2025.
- ↑ "Louis Hachette -1,73% 1,757€". Boursier. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
- ↑ "Louis Hachette Group boostée par les best-sellers et les jeux". Actuallité (in French). 25 April 2025.
- ↑ "Vivendi : son projet de scission détaillé et soumis aux actionnaires le 9 décembre". Boursorama. 29 October 2024.
- ↑ "Louis Hachette Group : distribution d'un dividende de 0,06 euro validée". Boursier. 5 February 2025.
- ↑ "Yannick Bolloré, successeur naturel mais non officiel de Vincent chez Vivendi". L'Echo. 30 October 2024.
- ↑ "Vivendi : la très relative indépendance des futurs administrateurs de l'empire Bolloré". La Lettre (in French). 21 November 2024.
