MEDIA HEADLINER: Denfert-Rochereau prepares to tackle UK publishing giants.(Brief Article)

Is Hachette Filipacchi set to give the UK mag market a shake-up?

Jean-Paul Denfert-Rochereau is a name that probably means very little to most people in this country. However, if all goes to plan, the UK magazine industry may soon become familiar with his work.

For as the international chief executive of the French publishing giant Hachette Filipacchi, Denfert-Rochereau is one of the principle architects behind the purchase of Attic Futura, a move that looks set to shake up the UK's publishing pecking order.

Hachette's first foray into UK consumer magazines took the form of a partnership with Emap, the main fruit of which was the joint publication of Hachette's flagship title Elle.

Now the Attic Futura deal has led Emap to cut its ties with the French outfit and therefore deny it numerous juicy cross-selling opportunities. But Hachette can console itself with the knowledge that by combining Elle and Elle Girl with Attic's B and Sugar, it will have a very strong presence in both the women's and teenage magazine sectors.

The Attic deal is the latest of Hachette's many moves into foreign markets. The company, which also publishes Paris Match and bankrolled the late John F Kennedy Jnr's ill-fated political magazine George, currently has a presence in 34 countries.

'There are two reasons for this,' Denfert-Rochereau explains. 'One, we have a market share in France which is big - between 20 and 25 per cent in circulation. This is very large and difficult to widen significantly. Secondly, through Elle we've learned to develop our trademarks internationally.'