Hachette (French publisher)

Hachette Livre S.A. (French: [aʃɛt]; simply known as Hachette) is a French publishing group and public limited company established as a brick and mortar specialty retailer in the Latin Quarter of Paris, France in the early 19th century. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as the bookshop Brédif, which later became successively L. Hachette et Compagnie (from French; English: "L. Hachette and Company"), Librairie Hachette ("Hachette Booksellers"), and Hachette SA before being given the name it is currently known by in France: Hachette Livre ("Hachette Book(s)"). After acquiring an Australian publisher, the company formed its Australian national subsidiary, Hachette Australia; in the U.K., the company's British subsidiary became known as Hachette UK; and with its expansion into the United States, its American subsidiary was named Hachette Book Group.

Hachette Livre has been owned by the Lagardère Group since 1981 under their publishing division Lagardère Publishing. Lagardère Group in turn is majority owned by the French conglomerate Louis Hachette Group (LHG), resulting from the spin-off of Vivendi.

The company is today headquartered at 58 Rue Jean Bleuzen in the commune of Vanves in the suburban outskirts of Paris.