GROUP

Key dates

1826	Louis Hachette, a 26-year-old graduate of France’s prestigious École Normale Supérieure, opens Brédif, a bookshop located near the Sorbonne in Paris.
1833	The Guizot Schools Law is voted, requiring every municipality to open a primary school. Louis Hachette has been putting together an alphabet primer since 1829 and is the only one capable of responding to the public order for a million textbooks.
1846	The company L. Hachette et Compagnie is founded on January 1. Emile Littré signs a contract with Louis Hachette to publish a dictionary, the first volumes of which appear in 1863.
1852	Louis Hachette signs a concession contract with seven railway companies to create station bookstalls that sell travel guides, such as the Guides Joanne, and novels by such authors as Charles Dickens, Gérard de Nerval and George Sand, along with works from the children’s series Bibliothèque rose, including those by La Comtesse de Ségur.
1864	Louis Hachette passes away on July 31.
1896	The monthly Lecture pour tous (Reading for all) is launched.
1914	Hachette acquires Hetzel, the publisher of Jules Verne.
1919	The Guides Joanne become the Guides bleus. The children’s collection Bibliothèque verte is founded. Hachette et Cie becomes Librairie Hachette.
1953	Henri Filipacchi pushes for the creation of the paperback imprint Livre de Poche.
1954	The publishers Grasset and Fasquelle join Librairie Hachette.
1958	Arthème Fayard joins Librairie Hachette.
1961	Stock joins Librairie Hachette.
1977	Librairie Hachette becomes Hachette SA.
1978	A distribution centre – the Centre de Distribution du Livre – is founded in Maurepas, southwest of Paris.
1980	Matra Group, chaired by Jean-Luc Lagardère, acquires Hachette SA.
1980	The French publisher Jean-Claude Lattès joins Hachette SA.

1988	The Spanish publisher Editorial Salvat joins Hachette SA.
1992	Hachette SA’s publishing assets form Hachette Livre.
1993	Calmann-Lévy joins Hachette Livre.
1996	Groupe Alexandre Hatier joins Hachette Livre.
1998	The UK publishers Orion (Gollancz, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Phoenix) and Cassell join Hachette Livre.
2000	The Polish publisher Wiedza i Zycie joins Hachette Livre.
2001	Bruño in Spain and Octopus in Great Britain join Hachette Livre.
2003	Hachette Livre acquires the publishers Larousse, Armand Colin, Dunod in France and the Anaya Group in Spain from Vivendi when its publishing assets are put up for sale.
2004	The UK group Hodder Headline (Headline, Hodder & Stoughton, John Murray, Hodder Children’s Books, Hodder Education, Hodder Headline Australia and New Zealand) joins Hachette Livre, combining with Orion, Octopus and Franklin Watts to create the Hachette UK group.
2006	Time Warner Book Group in the United States (Warner Books, which became Grand Central Publishing, Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Bulfinch Press, Warner Faith, Center Street and Time Warner Audio Books) joins Hachette Livre. Today, they form Hachette Book Group. Little, Brown Book Group joins Hachette UK.
2007	Piatkus and Philip Allan (UK), Pika (France), Patria (Mexico) join Hachette Livre.
2008	The French publisher Éditions des Deux Terres joins Hachette Livre. Hachette India is founded. Hachette Livre acquires 60% of Albert René, the publisher of Asterix.
2009	A joint venture is initiated in China with Phoenix Publishing & Media Group (PPMG). HBG establishes a subsidiary company, Hachette Book Group Canada, Inc., to market its titles to national accounts in Canada. A joint venture is initiated in Lebanon with Librairie Antoine.