Hachette Group: landmarks
landmarks
Sponsored links
This chronology is indicative only.
It covers -
* Wendel, Hachette and Lagardere antecedents (1826)
* beginnings (1963)
* Hachette absorbed by aerospace conglomerate (1981)
* Matra Hachette and Filipacchi (1992)
* Attic Futura and Vivendi (2002)
* Editis (2004)
Context is provided by the broader communications and media timeline on this site.
antecedents
1704 Jean-Martin Wendel launches iron forging business in Lorraine
1768 John Murray establishes publishing house
1789 Le Journal des Débats founded by Gaultier de Biauzat
1794 Wendel forges nationalised
1799 Journal des Débats acquired by Bertin family
1803 Wendels recover forging interests
1826 Louis Hachette buys Paris bookstore Brédif and starts business as publisher
1852 Hachette launches Le Journal pour Tous, magazine for the general reader
1852 Hachette launches Bibliothèques des Chemins de Fer, sold through railway stalls
1863 Hachette launches his Dictionary of the French Language with his friend Littré
1864 Louis Hachette dies
1871 Journal des Débats sold by Bertin family
1895 Grolier books founded in US
1907 Grasset publishing established by Bernard Grasset
1908 Wendel buys Oranje-Nassau mining group
1922 Coty acquires Le Figaro
1926 Coty founds L'Ami du people in 1926
1937 Jean Prouvost founds Marie Claire as weekly
1940 becomes Minister of Information
1945 Matra (Mécanique Aviation TRAction) founded
1945 Wendel's French coal mining interests nationalised
1945 Hachette launches Elle
1950 Prouvost is member of consortium acquiring Le Figaro
1953 Hachette and Henri Filipacchi launches Le Livre de Poche, France's leading paperback imprint
1954 Hachette buys Grasset
1954 Marie Claire relaunched as monthly
1962 Filipacchi Media created by Daniel Filipacchi and Frank Ténot to publish Hello magazine
beginnings
1963 Jean-Luc Lagardère becomes CEO of Matra
1964 Prouvost increases stake in Figaro
1967 Hachette buys Fasquelle publishing
1967 Cap Gemini created
1970 Prouvost gains control of Figaro
1972 Matra named prime contractor to build the first VAL automated transit system
1972 Bettencourt's L'Oreal takes stake in Marie Claire group
1974 Matra-Simca wins Le Mans 24 hours race
1975 Matra becomes prime contractor for France's Ariane rocket
1975 Hersant buys Le Figaro (merged with L'Aurore 1980)
1975 Marine-Wendel created through Wendel takeover of Marine-Firminy group
1977 non-steel assets spun off to Compagnie Generale d’Industrie et de Participations (CGIP)
1978 CGIP transfers cement interests to Cedest
1978 Wendel iron and steel interests nationalised
takeover by missile-to-auto conglomerate
1981 Lagardère gains controlling stake in Hachette
1982 Wendel buys controlling stake in Cap Gemini Sogeti (later Cap Gemini Ernst & Young)
1983 Matra Automobile launches Espace minivan, marketed by Renault
1983 sells Canadian distribution arm to Quebecor
1983 Wendel sells stake in Creusot-Loire group
1985 Hachette buys stake in Belgian Dupuis printing, book publishing, television and magazine group
1985 Hachette launches Relais H news-stand concept
1986 Wendel buys stake in auto parts maker Valeo
1986 Headline publishing group established
1988 Hachette buys former CBS magazine division (21 titles) from Diamandis press group
1988 Wendel interests form part of merger between Carnaud Emballage and Metalbox to create CarnaudMetalbox (CMB) packaging group
1988 Hachette buys US encyclopedia publisher Grolier
1989 Matra becomes prime contractor for Hispasat satellite
1990 Hachette buys 65% of book distributor Payot Naville Distribution SA from Edipresse
1990 merger of Matra Espace and GEC Marconi aerospace division to form Europe's leading space contractor
1991 Orion buys Weidenfeld & Nicolson
1991 Hachette forms joint venture with Emap to publish Elle, Sante and other magazines in UK
1992 Headline buys Bookpoint distribution services
Matra Hachette and Filipacchi
1992 Matra Hachette is formed following Matra's merger with Hachette. South Korea becomes fourth Asian state to order Mistral missiles
1993 Hachette launches Axis multimedia encyclopedia
1993 Matra develops communication system for French police
1993 Hachette sells Dupuis stake
1993 Headline buys Hodder & Stoughton publishing group
1994 Matra Marconi Space buys British Aerospace space division
1994 Wendel sells Cedest interests
1994 Wendel buys Wheelabrator Allevard
1994 Wendel buys 20% of Bureau Veritas
1994 Lagardère Groupe launches successful share exchange offer for Matra Hachette, with 92.74% stake
1995 Matra buys CAD/CAM specialist Cisigraph
1995 CMB merges with Crown Cork & Seal
1995 Filipacchi buys Rolling Stone
1995 Hachette buys UCS, Canada's leading newsstand chain, and become no.3 press retailer in America.
1996 Matra BAe Dynamics formed through merger of missile subsidiaries of Lagardère and British Aerospace, ranking number 3 in World
1996 Wendel takes 20% stake in Valeo
1996 Hachette buys French publisher Alexandre Hatier
1996 Elle launched in Russia, South Africa and India
1996 Marine-Wendel buys 20% of Valeo
1997 merger of Filipacchi Media and Hachette Filipacchi Presse
1997 CGIP buys 30% of Cap Gemini and 34% of Bureau Veritas
1997 two French dailies, Le Provençal and Le Méridional, merged to form La Provence
1997 Matra Communication's 50% interest in MET Communication sold to Ericsson
1998 Hachette Multimédia formed through merger of Hachette Livre and Grolier Interactive
1998 CGIP buys 29% of Trader.com
1998 Matra Communication and Nortel's activities in France merge
1998 Hachette buys Extrapole multimedia bookshop chain.
1998 Hachette buys Orion and Cassell
1998 Matra High Technology merges with Aerospatiale to form Aerospatiale Matra
1998 Hachette buys Japanese publisher Fujin Gaho
1998 Wendel sells Crown Cork & Seal interests
1999 Hachette buys 80% of Italian publisher Rusconi Editore
1999 Hachette buys majority stake in Gamma 2000 photo agency
1999 Lagardere gains 15% stake in EADS (European Areonautic Defence & Space) through merger of Aérospatiale Matra, Aeronauticas and Daimler Chrysler Aerospace
1999 WH Smith buys Hodder Headline for £185m
2000 Lagardere sells Grolier for US$400m
2000 Hachette buys Katz photo agency
2000 Marine-Wendel takes stake in Boucle Local Radio
2000 Cap Gemini merges with Ernst & Young
2000 Hachette closes Mirabella magazine
2001 buys 70% of Rapho photo agency (est 1933)
2001 closes George magazine in US
2001 buys small stake in ailing PCF newspaper L'Humanité
2001 buys 42% of publisher Marie Claire (inc Marie Claire, Marie-Claire Maison, Avantages, Famili and Cuisine et vins de France) from L'Oréal for £170m
Wendel Investissement, Attic Futura and Vivendi
2002 Wendel Investissement formed through merger of Marine-Wendel and CGIP
2002 Wendel sells most equity in Valeo for €834m
2002 takes 37.4% stake in Legrand Group (electrical and electronics manufacturing) as part of US$4.4bn LBO
2002 Hodder Headline buys John Murray
2002 Lagardere buys Attic Future book and magazine group for £40m from News spinoff PMP
2002 dissolves UK licensing arrangements with Emap
2002 agrees to buy Vivendi's EU and Latin American publishing units for US$1.2bn
2002 sells Hachette Filipacchi Medias printing assets in Europe (inc printing and bindery facilities in France and Hachette’s 50% ownership of Helio Charleroi in Belgium) to Quebecor
2003 Lagardere announces decision to exit from auto business and plan to leave missile business within decade
2003 death of Jean-Luc Lagardere
Editis
2004 European Commission orders Lagardere to dispose of 60% of Vivendi's EU publishing interests
2004 joint venture buys WH Smith retail operations in Singapore
2004 Lagardere sells Editis publishing group to Wendel Investissement
2004 Hachette buys Hodder Headline publishing from WH Smith for £223m
2006 Time Warner sells book publishing division (inc Warner Books and Little, Brown) to Lagardere for US$537.5m
2006 Lagardere agrees to buy 20% of Vivendi Universal's French pay-TV business Canal Plus in exchange for its 34% stake in CanalSatellite and €525m
2007 Warner Books renamed Grand Central Publishing