Hand, chairman of Hachette, is reported to have made plans to move the company from its position of seventh largest publisher in the UK to third or fourth, pushing the competition with Emap, the company from which Hand was ousted.
In a report in the Financial Times, Hand is quoted as saying: "It is do-able. It took Emap £250m to get to the third largest in France after five years. I think Hachette has the resources if the opportunities are here."
Last month, Hachette bought Attic Futura, home to teen titles such as Sugar, as well as TV listings magazines.
Hachette is soon to take over publishing the Elle titles, which were formerly published in a joint venture with Emap. The two companies are currently fighting over the fate of the older women's title Red.
As well as Elle, Hachette will gain control of Elle Decoration and Elle Girl.
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