As British magazines focus on ABC figures today, senior executives in the industry's most glamorous New York tower block are busy stitching together the international portfolios of Lagardère and Hearst.
On this side of the Atlantic, the immediate benefits of combining the portfolios of Hearst-owned NatMags (Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazaar, Good Housekeeping, Country Living) with those of Lagardère’s Hachette Filipacchi (Red, Elle, Psychologies, Inside Soap) are not immediately clear, but the real deal has little to do with the UK.
When I quizzed Duncan Edwards, president and chief executive of Hearst Magazines International after the deal was confirmed, there was little tangible evidence that UK operations had been much of a consideration at all.
Read about Hearst's international aspirations here
