The deal will see Kevin Hand, the former chief executive of Emap, return to the fore of UK magazine publishing. Hand left Emap following the disastrous Emap USA debacle, where the UK publisher lost £400m on buying and then offloading Petersen.
When Hand joined Hachette in January, he had a brief to work on new launches in the UK, France and Australia. At the time, he said: "The future is full of opportunities and I am really looking forward to helping Hachette take advantage of them."
Attic Futura was put up for sale last year by its Australian owners PMP and, at one stage, it was thought that the group might be snapped up by IPC Media, but talks between the two fell through.
As well as IPC, German publisher H Bauer was also in the running to buy the group, which publishes Inside Soap and CD:UK. It closed down Shine, its women's health and beauty title, last year blaming disappointing sales in a crowded market.
The deal will give Hachette its first real foothold in the UK. It has previously pursued a policy of joint ventures with UK magazine publishers these include Marie Claire with IPC and Elle with Emap.
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