2023-07-27 20:01:04
Who will take the helm of the main French publishing group, Hachette Livre (Grasset, Stock, Calmann-Lévy, etc.)? On Wednesday July 26, the publishing subsidiary of the Lagardère group announced the departure of Fabrice Bakhouche, its deputy managing director, after six years in the group. He will officially step down on September 1, ” from a common agreement “ with the company.
The question of the governance of the French number one in publishing and the world number three in the sector therefore arises acutely. And the rumors are rife. For the time being, the post of CEO of Hachette Livre has been occupied since March 2021 by the collector of manuscripts and rare books, unbeatable on the Marquis de Sade, Pierre Leroy, who will celebrate his 75th birthday in October.
This devotee of Arnaud Lagardère succeeded Arnaud Nourry, who for seventeen years had built a Chinese wall between Hachette and its shareholder, the Lagardère group, in order to leave complete freedom to publishers. The good health of the company enabled it to maintain this special status. But when Arnaud Nourry officially opposed the arrival of Vivendi as a shareholder, he was pushed out.
Three names are now mentioned to ensure the presidency of Hachette. According The echoes Thursday, July 27, Arnaud Lagardère could take himself the head of Lagardère Publishing (which includes all publishing activities, French and international). He would thus reduce his scope of action since in return for abandoning the group’s limited partnership scheme to transform it into a public limited company, he had obtained a title of CEO of the Lagardère group for six years.
Uncertainty that worries employees
The echoes also put forward the name of Arnaud de Puyfontaine, chairman of the board of directors of Vivendi at the head of Hachette. However, the latter currently also holds the position of president of Editis, and it is difficult to see how he could, without infringing the rules of competition, move to his main rival. Especially since he absolutely knows the mysteries of the contracts signed by Editis both with its authors and with the publishing houses that it broadcasts or distributes.
Another name frequently cited for months: that of Nicolas Sarkozy. The former head of state is now a director of the Lagardère group and is eyeing this post. For the time being, the communication department of Hachette Livre refuses to comment on these conjectures.
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This uncertainty, which worries employees, crystallizes in a tense context. The European Commission announced on Tuesday, July 25, the opening of an investigation into a possible early takeover of Lagardère by Vivendi carried out in violation of European Union rules. The takeover operation by the group of billionaire Vincent Bolloré was authorized on June 9 by the European antitrust authorities. However, it remains conditional on the sale of the magazine Gala to the Figaro group and the sale of Editis to the group of billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who in the meantime has become the leading shareholder of Fnac, the leading seller of books in France.
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