Emap consumer magazines business unlikely to see bid from Lagardere

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Lagardere, the listed French media group, ”is not looking at the Emap dossier,” said a company spokesperson. The comments contradict a recently published report which had flagged Lagardere as a possible bidder for Emap’s consumer magazines business.

Banking sources familiar with the company’s strategy also said that the French publishing group was an unlikely bidder for the Emap business.

A first industry source noted that Lagardere in the UK is quite small; the total revenue of its operations in England amounts to, according to the source, about EUR 10m, and its presence there is mainly through the magazine Elle.

On Monday, Lagardere announced the sale of its Hachette Filipacchi Sweden subsidiary, which, among other titles, publishes Elle, Café and Elle Interiör, to Allers Forlag for an undisclosed amount. The move was presented as a step in the company’s rationalisation plan launched in January by its chief executive Didier Quillot.

A deal with Emap would effectively be Lagardere’s entrance into the UK, the source added. They will look at it very closely but it’s doubtful they will go to as far as writing a big cheque, the source said.

Buying Emap’s magazines seems to be a big bet for Lagardere to take, a second industry source agreed. Emap has regularly been on Lagardere’s target list but it has been declining. Although the possibility of a bid cannot be ruled out, it does not seem obvious that Lagardere will look to buy more consumer magazine assets, the source said.

It’s a big amount of money, the first source said, asking what Lagardere could add to a type of press that has essentially been invented on the other side of the English Channel. If Emap were in the US it would be a different story because Emap is quite strong in the US, this source added.

Lagardere’s apparent disinterest in UK expansion could indicate that the UK could be another part of the rationalisation plan. Lagardere was not available to comment on this matter.

However, the above-mentioned source also said that an Emap bid could not be ruled out, especially if interest from other potential bidders is weak. the UK was identified by Lagardere as a under critical size business so it would be a chance to level that, the source said.

It was previously reported that Kevin Hand, head of Hachette-Filipacchi UK, the British magazine division of Lagardere and former Emap chief executive was eager to assemble a bid for Emap’s consumer magazine unit. He is surely very well placed to know what a fair price is for the unit, reportedly valued at GBP 700m (EUR 1bn), the first source noted. But the second source believed that the presence of Hand did not guarantee that Lagardere will make a move.

The first source said that Lagardere was not interested in Emap’s business publishing division and was unlikely to show interest for the radio assets.

Meanwhile a spokesperson to EMAP would not confirm if a information memorandum had been sent to interested parties.

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