Be and Envy are to merge

Lagardère Active and Group Marie Claire plan to set up a joint company to address the market of new generational women’s weeklies

The market for women’s weeklies has been very buoyant of late as evidenced by the launch of several weekly magazines, the increase in circulation of leading titles, together with a significant hike in advertising revenue. Within this dynamic but competitive environment, Lagardère Active and Group Marie Claire have decided to join forces by merging Be and Envy so as to better cater to the new generational women’s weeklies market.

The joint publishing company to be formed will be held 80 % by Lagardère Active and 20 % by Group Marie Claire and be in charge of publishing the merged magazine Be. It will also publish the weekly magazine Public.

The company is to be run by Bruno Lesouëf, CEO Press Magazines France of Lagardère Active. Jean-Paul Lubot, Marie Claire Group Associate CEO, will double as Associate CEO of the joint company, providing invaluable assistance and expertise to the editorial and marketing development of Be.

• Anne Bianchi will be the editor of chief of merged magazine Be.
• Oscar Beccera will be the publisher of both Be and Public.
• Nicolas Pigasse will remain as managing editor of Public.

Lagardère Publicité will be selling advertising.

This joint company will be effective once consultation procedures with the employee representatives of both groups have been completed.

Bruno Lesouëf stated: «We are happy to be forming a joint company with our historic partner Group Marie Claire. This is confirmation by Lagardère Active that a new market is opening up for magazines in France: that of upscale generational women’s magazines.»

Jean-Paul Lubot said: « We are very pleased with this strategic alliance. Linking up our forces and merging the expertise of our two groups will accelerate our expansion into the market for generational women’s magazines. With this decision, Group Marie Claire is staking out a strong and lasting position in this high-growth market. »