Scor, the very powerful reinsurance group, is overhauling the operation of its publishing subsidiary, the Humensis group, which includes around twenty publishing and media houses, including Belin, PUF, Que sais-je? or magazines For Science and Classica.
With 45 million euros in turnover in 2021 (including the sale of licenses), it weighs barely a thousandth of the assets of its parent company – a confetti in this galaxy – but often flows more than ink. Managing Director Frédéric Mériot, at the head of the company since 2016 and who had been reappointed as corporate officer until the end of December 2022, will be thanked.
The governance of Humensis has been transformed into a company with a supervisory board and a management board. The latter will be officially composed Thursday, December 22 of three personalities of the group: Muriel Beyer, the deputy general manager, Guillaume Montégudet, director of the education and training division and Nicolas Bréon, general secretary. This trio will assume, from the 1er January, a collegial direction.
700 new products per year
Denis Kessler, the president of Scor, first bought the PUF in 2014 when these historic editions in the history of French social sciences were once again in danger of disappearing. Its stated desire has always been to contribute to the development of the knowledge society by publishing and distributing certified content from thinkers, scientists or experts.
Infrequent editorial activity, the school education center, historically built around Belin, is faced with recurring difficulties
And Scor has developed this small group either through acquisitions such as Les Equateurs in 2018 for example or recently the purchase of magazines Classica and Pianist. Endogenously, Humensis has also launched the editions of the Observatory, Pasts compounds, a house dedicated to history, or recently Les Cahiers de l’économie.
Humensis, which publishes nearly 700 new titles a year, achieved good sales in 2022 at Editions de l’Observtoire with To be in her place by Claire Marine I’ll help you live, you’ll help me die by Nathalie Saint-Cricq or even The True State of France by Agnes Verdier-Molinie. One of the house’s leading authors, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is writing a new book, has not yet decided who will publish it. Close to Vincent Bolloré, the former President of the Republic is also a director of Lagardère (the parent company of Hachette Livre) and would also hesitate to self-publish. He is expected to make his decision in January.
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