Arnaud Lagardère has been named chair and CEO of Hachette Livre, replacing Pierre Leroy, who took over following the departure of Arnaud Nourry after he had opposed the sale of the company. Leroy retains his other role as deputy ceo of parent company Lagardere, just as Mr. Lagardere retains his other role as ceo of the parent company (which presumably now leaves him reporting to…himself). Lagardère says in the announcement: “In light of the impending merger of the Lagardère group and Vivendi, I wanted to demonstrate my historical and deep-rooted attachment to the book trade, which the Lagardère family has […]
International News
Reisman Will Pivot Indigo Back to Books
Returning Indigo ceo Heather Reisman has given a number of interviews in recent weeks, pledging to return the chain to its core values and aiming to lift book sales to comprise 65 to 70 percent of the company’s revenue. “We will have a yearlong journey” in turning around the chain and “we will do this with our customers; books will move to the center.” That will reverse her own long-term initiative to remake Indigo as “a full lifestyle retailer.” The last time books comprised 65 percent of sales was the fiscal year ending in March 2015. She admits, “I was […]
Publishers Make Record Bets on Fiction Heading Into Frankfurt
The trends we noted in our recent analysis of third quarter deal reports — fewer overall reports, growing totals for adult fiction, but record numbers of “major” deals — come into concentrated relief as we narrow down into the traditional “pre-Frankfurt” dealmaking window in particular. Since 2021, the Frankfurt Book Fair has fallen a week later than usual, yet again our counts include one extra day of deal reports — but that makes for even comps to 2022 and 2021. For many years, FBF would come five weeks after Labor Day, so our count usually covers five weeks plus one […]
Malaysian and Indonesian Publishers Withdraw from Frankfurt Book Fair
Two more organizations have pulled out of the Frankfurt Book Fair, following FBF director Juergen Boos’ statements that FBF “stands with full solidarity on the side of Israel” and will “make Jewish and Israeli voices especially visible.” On Monday, the Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi) withdrew their participation from the event. “The Frankfurt Book Festival organizers’ decision to only support and provide a platform to Israel has undermined the ideals of dialogue and efforts to build mutual understanding between countries,” Ikapi chair Arys Hilman said in a statement. Today, Malaysia’s education ministry also dropped out of the fair. “The ministry will not […]
Acquisitions: PRH UK Buys Hardie Grant UK
Penguin Random House UK has acquired Hardie Grant UK. Hardie Grant’s two imprints, Hardie Grant UK and Quadrille, will continue operating and report to Ebury managing director Joel Rickett. Managing director Stephen King will leave at the end of 2023 and finance director David Ersapah will depart in July 2024. The Bookseller reports that there are no other plans for layoffs. At Hardie Grant, there will be no changes to the company in other territories. In a release, PRH UK ceo Tom Weldon said, “We are excited about the impact of adding Hardie Grant UK to Penguin Random House and […]
Imprints: Bonnier Books UK Adds Children’s Line
Bonnier Books UK will launch the nonfiction children’s imprint Hatch Press in January 2024, planning to publish about 30 titles a year. The line, focused on “hands-on learning, and art and activity titles for fledgling readers between 3-12 years old,” is led by Kieran Hood. The imprint is based on republished editions of the backlist of Salariya, the rights to which Bonnier acquired last November after the publisher was liquidated.