Hachette (publisher)
Hachette, French pronunciation: [a.ʃɛt], is a French publisher. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif, a bookshop and publishing company. It became L. Hachette et Compagnie on 1 January 1846, Librairie Hachette in 1919, and Hachette SA in 1977. It was acquired by the Lagardère Group in 1981. In 1992 the publishing assets of Hachette SA were grouped into a subsidiary called Hachette Livre (French pronunciation: [a.ʃɛt liːvʁ]), the flagship imprint of Lagardère Publishing. Hachette has its headquarters in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.
In 1996 it merged with the Hatier group. In 2004, Hachette acquired dictionary publisher Éditions Larousse. In 2006, it expanded into the United States when it purchased Time Warner's book-publishing division, which was then renamed Hachette Book Group USA. In June 2013, Hachette announced that it would acquire Hyperion Books from Disney. It is one of the largest English-language publishers, known as the "Big Five".
In May 2014, Amazon.com stopped taking pre-order sales of Hachette books, citing a breakdown in negotiations over commission and ebook pricing. According to Hachette, Amazon had also stopped discounting its books, sending prices of Hachette titles in the U.S. to more than twice what they were selling for in the UK.
