Fleurus Presse Acquires French Publication Arts Magazine - MarketWatch

LOS ANGELES & PARIS, Dec 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- OpenGate Capital portfolio company Fleurus Presse today announced that it has acquired Arts Magazine, one of France's top publications dedicated to the fine arts. The acquisition enables Fleurus Presse to reinforce its position as a leading European publisher of knowledge- and education-based media.

"Arts Magazine stands out for its sophisticated educational content," said Jean-Martial Lefranc, CEO, Fleurus Presse, "offering its readers unparalleled resources to keep abreast not only of major classical pieces of art, but also of the works of up-and-coming contemporary artists. It is the perfect complement to our other titles."

Founded in 2004, Arts Magazine sells more than 30,000 copies a month through its paid-for circulation base. The magazine is poised to benefit from the increased interest in arts and culture worldwide, as demonstrated by growing exhibition attendance and the fast-expanding consumer base for all forms of art.

Arts Magazine will join a roster of leading French publications recently acquired by Fleurus Presse including Comment ca marche, an entertaining science and technology magazine that delivers absorbing articles packed with fact and opinion to fuel the imagination; and Tcho, a comics magazine dedicated to the well known character Titeuf. Fleurus Presse launched both of these publications in 2010, enabling the company to grow its subscriber base by providing high-quality content in a refreshing, modern format available in both print and online. In addition, Fleurus Presse is benefiting from its publications' merchandising and distribution arrangements that are valuable to its subscribers and the business.

OpenGate Capital Partner Julien Lagreze who assisted in leading the Arts Magazine acquisition, said, "OpenGate is executing on our strategy to build our media portfolio companies both organically and through select acquisitions. Like other Fleurus Presse publications, Arts Magazine is a strong brand with a leading niche position. With a solid foundation of superior editorial content and loyal subscribers, we intend to unleash the publication's revenue potential as we have done for our other media brands."

In addition to Fleurus Presse, OpenGate Capital owns TV Guide magazine, one of the leading weekly print publications in the US that has been dedicated to the coverage of television and entertainment-related content during the past 50 years.

About Fleurus Presse

Based in Paris, Fleurus Presse is publisher of high-quality magazines for more than 50 years. Its publications include leading educational and knowledge-based titles in France such as Abricot, Les P'tites Filles ala Vanille, Les P'tites Sorcieres, Je lis deja, as well as Junior Hebdo, Comment ca marche