The former president of the Toulon rugby club Mourad Boudjellal announced Monday his return to comic book publishing, where he had already created Soleil, before leaving this sector.
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“
I decided to return to the world of publishing.
And then I was seduced by the proposal and the Editis project
, ”he said in a video sent to AFP by this group, number two in publishing in France.
"
It's an activity that will take up a lot of space, because I have a very big ambition and I believe that the group can also do great things
," he added.
The name of this new house has not been revealed.
Mourad Boudjellal, who also owns the Hyères football club (Var), only announces “
the first novelties in 2022, but above all a very nice catalog for the year 2023
”.
Soleil editions were founded in 1989 in Toulon, and bought from Mourad Boudjellal by a long-time ally, Delcourt, in 2011. Editis (Vivendi group) created its 51st publishing house there, and the second in comics, after Phileas, founded in 2020.
"
This not only reflects the group's desire to continue - after the creation of Philéas - its development in the field of comics, but also to create houses around talented personalities and ambitious projects
", underlined the general manager. of Editis, Michème Benbunan, in a press release.
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Comics are by far the fastest growing sector in books in France, by 34% in 2021 according to Xerfi figures published by Livres Hebdo.
According to another firm, GfK, it comes second in number of copies on the book market, with 24% against 25% for general literature.
