Lagardère and Hearst , with Hearst making a "binding offer" of €651m for the international titles operated under Lagardere’s overseas publishing subsidiary, Hachette Filipacchi.
The offer included a licensing deal for Lagardère’s flagship title Elle magazine. In the UK, Hachette Filipacchi's titles will be housed alongside those of the Hearst-owned National Magazine Company.
This will consolidate fashion competitors Elle and Harper’s Bazaar in the same publishing house, which will then be pitched against other premium fashion brands, including Condé Nast's Vogue.
Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast, said: "We are not anticipating any negative effect on Condé Nast from the takeover. Bazaar and Elle have always been the numbers two and three players in the eyes of the fashion world, and so they will remain.
Coleridge continued: "They are nice titles, but they sure ain't Vogue, and I can't see any reader or advertiser quitting Vogue simply because of a coalition of the runners-up, owned by our friends at Hearst."
A Hachette Filipacchi source said: "It’s a really good thing as it gives us a strong, broad, complimentary portfolio which is hard to achieve with mergers and acquisitions. There are also no big conflicts. Elle and Harpers’ Bazaar are different propositions.
"Elle is a lot bigger in terms of circulation and Harpers is more niche – in a good way. It will make it easier for advertisers to work with us, as they will be able to work with Elle and Harpers with one less buying point."
Vanessa Clifford, head of press at Mindshare, said: "From an advertiser's perspective, I wouldn’t say it’s more attractive than before to have Elle and Harpers grouped under the same publishing house – both titles have been in existence a long time. Could they trade them better together? Possibly.
"Certainly it gives [NatMag] broader credentials in that market and provides an easier flow of conversation between advertisers and the publisher, but I don’t think this will be at the detriment of Vogue, because Vogue, Elle and Harper’s have always existed – it’s not like one brand has come in from the wilderness."
The future acquisition of Lagardère's international portfolio by Hearst would also give Hearst the biggest international presence of a consumer magazine publisher.
Clifford does not see this as a threat to Condé Nast however.
She said: "Ultimately, they are very different publishers. Both have really strong established brands. The consumer doesn’t really care who owns the magazines. They only care if any acquisitions affects the content of the brands."
Vogue leads the circulation race among the fashion glossies, with an average net circulation of 210,561 for the six months to June 2010, compared to Elle's figure of 195,625 and Harper's Bazaar 118,553, according to the latest ABC figures.
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