The story
1999–2001
Publihebdos was established in 1999 with the objective of consolidating all of the weekly regional press titles owned by Ouest-France, which at that time included Le Trégor and Les Sables - Vendée Journal.
In 2001, through Publihebdos, Ouest-France acquired the family-owned Méaulle group, which was prominent in Normandy through approximately twenty titles, such as L'Éveil normand and Les Informations dieppoises... Publihebdos also took control of the printing plant in Bernay.
This acquisition enabled Groupe SIPA - Ouest-France to establish a presence in Upper Normandy, particularly to compete with the Hersant Media Group, which owned the rival newspaper Paris-Normandie.
2002–2013
In 2005, as part of the acquisition of Socpresse Ouest by Groupe SIPA-Ouest-France—which resulted in the creation of the subsidiary Les Journaux de Loire—Publihebdos acquired the weekly newspapers Toutes les nouvelles (Versailles) and La Gazette du Val-d'Oise, both previously owned by Serge Dassault.
In 2007, Publihebdos acquired 14 local weekly newspapers from the Hersant group in Normandy and the Pays de la Loire region, including titles such as Les Nouvelles de Falaise and Le Courrier vendéen. This transaction brought the total number of titles under Publihebdos to 56, representing nearly 30% of the French weekly press market.
Between 2009 and 2013, Publihebdos continued acquiring independent weekly newspapers, including L'Informateur and L'Écho-Le Régional in 2009, Le Courrier du Léon and Progrès de Cornouaille in 2010, the biweekly regional newspaper Le Pays briard in 2011, and Le Républicain (Lot-et-Garonne and South Gironde) in 2013.
In parallel with these acquisitions, the group launched new free weekly newspapers and digital-only publications, including Le Havre infos and Côté Caen in 2010, 76actu in 2012, and Normandie-actu.fr in 2014. By this point, the group comprised 76 weekly newspapers.
2014–2016
In 2014, Publihebdos acquired 70% of the weekly newspapers of La Presse Régionale, which was controlled by an association linked to the Mulliez family, with the remaining 30% initially retained by the association Les Amis de la presse régionale. This acquisition added 12 weekly titles, including Voix du Jura, Voix du Midi, and Croix du Nord, bringing the total to 80 titles out of approximately 250 weekly newspapers in France.
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In 2016, the departmental daily newspaper La Presse de la Manche, which had been acquired by Ouest-France in 1990, was transferred to Publihebdos.
Since 2017
Since 2017, Publihebdos has focused its strategy on digital development, consolidating its various websites under the single platform Actu.fr. This platform generated 50 million monthly visits in 2019 and reached 100 million monthly visits in 2023. On November 7, 2024, Publihebdos was renamed Groupe actu.
From Wikipedia’s article on Publihebdos, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3