France-based multinational publishing group Hachette Livre has entered into exclusive negotiations with French board game publisher Gigamic to acquire the company.

Gigamic produces mainly family-centric games including Marrakech, Reiner Knizia’s Pow!, Fatal Rendez-Vous, and Karibou Camp;  as well as abstract strategy games including Quoridor, Katamino, and Quarto (see “'Fatal Rendez-Vous,' 'Karibou Camp,'Ciao,' More.”) The company was founded 27 years ago by Jean-Christophe Gires and Stephane Gires, who are both founders and directors for the publisher.  Gigamic published around 15 new games a year, and has a back catalogue which includes over 200 titles.  Stephane Gires with continue to manage the business after Hachette Livre acquires 100% of the company’s share capital.

Hachette Livre, a subsidiary of Lagardere SCA, is the third largest trade and educational publishing group worldwide, publishing nearly 17,000 titles a year under over 100 different imprints in multiple languages. Hachette Livre already publishes party games and mobile games, so the company sees this investment as a strategic move to expand into the consumer gaming market.  Hachette Livre acquired the Time Warner Book Group in 2006 and created the Hachette Book Group (HBG) which operates more than 25 publishing imprints.  

“We are delighted to welcome Gigamic and its great team, whose skills are naturally closely aligned with our content creation activities for the consumer market,” said Arnaud Nourry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Livre. “Like all the entities that have joined the Group in recent years, Gigamic will be able to pursue its development while retaining its creative autonomy.”

Publisher Services, Inc. (PSI) has handled sales and fulfillment for Gigamic in the U.S. market since 2016 (see “PSI Announces Deal with Gigamic Games.”)