Lagardere names new Hachette CEO




Publishing industry veteran Steve Parr has been named as the new president of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. Inc., a unit of French conglomerate Lagardère SCA that publishes

Elle, Woman’s Day

and

Car and Driver

magazines among other titles,

the

Wall Street Journal

reported.

Parr succeeds Alain Lemarchand, whose mission had been “to turn around the recession-battered business,” the article said.

Though Mr. Lemarchand succeeded in cutting costs and reorganizing Hachette, speculation has grown that parent company Lagardère SCA planned to sell all or a piece of its U.S. magazine operation….

Didier Quillot, CEO of Lagardère Active, the company’s magazine and media division, told the Journal that “Steve Parr is not here to sell the business….. He is here to develop the business.”

Responding to the speculation about a sale, Mr. Quillot reiterated remarks made last month by Arnaud Lagardère, general partner of Lagardère SCA. In an earnings call, Mr. Lagardère had said the company has had interest from parties looking to buy all or part of Hachette, but that “there is no specific plan and no decision to really sell the magazines in the U.S. or in other countries outside France.”

(Source:

Wall Street Journal,

Sept. 22, 2010.)

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