Paris (AFP)
The "Journal de Mickey" and "Picsou Magazine" change shareholder: the French group of children's media Unique Heritage Media announced Tuesday to have completed the acquisition of Disney Hachette Presse (DHP), a leading publisher of children's publications, with its shareholders, the Lagardère and Disney groups.
At the end of June, Unique Heritage Media announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations to buy DHP from Lagardère, a 49% shareholder of DHP, and The Walt Disney Company, which holds the remaining 51% of the joint venture, for a total of undisclosed.
As part of this recovery, DHP has been renamed Unique Heritage Entertainment, says its acquirer. The company will continue "publishing and operating Disney licensed magazines, through brands such as Mickey's Journal, Picsou Magazine, Mickey Junior or Disney Princesses," the document said.
This operation allows Unique Heritage Media to significantly strengthen its mini-empire in the youth press, where it competes with groups like Bayard.
UHM, initially specialized in children's applications, books and educational games, developed in the youth press in 2015 by taking over the group Fleurus, publisher of iconic publications like "Papoum", "Apricot", "I read already" or "The world of Teens".
With Disney Hachette Presse, he has got his hands on the behemoths of the children's press: the company sells more than 12 million magazines a year in France, with brands and licenses ultra-known (The Journal of Mickey, Picsou Magazine , Mickey Junior, Disney Princesses ...).
For Lagardère, this sale is part of the drive to refocus on publishing and distribution activities in the travel areas (airports, train stations, etc.) operated by its manager Arnaud Lagardère. In this context, the group has already sold most of its activities in the press and the media.
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