SEOUL, KOREA/NEW YORK, USA — Hearst-Joongang, a joint venture between Hearst Magazines International and j contentree, today announced that it will become the publisher of the South Korean edition of internationally renowned fashion magazine ELLE this April. ELLE launched in Korea in 1992 and will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.
In a recent licensing deal with the French media group Lagardère Active, j contentree and its American partner have signed an agreement to publish Lagardère Active’s titles ELLE and ELLEgirl starting with April 2012 issues. Lagardère Active is part of Lagardère Group, the largest media conglomerate in France. ELLE has the largest global market share in the fashion magazine category, and is published in 43 countries including Korea, France, the United States and the U.K.
“Leveraging ELLE’s strong brand power, we will offer readers high-quality content in this local edition of the magazine,” said In-Won Cho, the CEO and publisher of j contentree M&B who led the licensing transaction. j contentree now seeks to become a global enterprise and producer of media content with a strong presence in Asia.”
J contentree M&B, the publishing arm of JoongAng Media Group, is the publisher of CéCi, SURE, Women JoongAng, LemonTree, InStyle Korea and HEREN. In addition to ELLE and ELLEgirl, Hearst-Joongang publishes Cosmopolitan Korea.
“We are very pleased to be adding another edition of ELLE to the Hearst network,” said Duncan Edwards, president and CEO of Hearst Magazines International. Our partnership with j contentree is already publishing a very successful edition of Cosmopolitan and will take ELLE in South Korea to even greater success than before.”
Bruno Lesouëf, CEO of the French and International Magazine Publishing division of Lagardère Active, said, “I would like to thank François Coruzzi, executive vice president, International of Lagardère Active, and all of the people who worked on this project, for the conclusion of this excellent licensing deal which will strengthen our links with Hearst Magazines International. We look forward to publishing ELLE in South Korea through this partnership with j contentree M&B and Hearst, and are confident that ELLE will continue to build on the success it has gained after a 20-year presence in South Korea.”
