Reader’s Digest to Publish French ‘Budgets Famille’

Reader’s Digest Assn. Inc. said today it will launch a new monthly magazine in France this fall as part of the publishing company’s strategy to expand operations overseas.

Budgets Famille (Family Budgets) will contain news, feature articles and tips on topics ranging from savings and borrowing strategies to the best ways families can budget for their children’s education as well as leisure activities like vacation,” said Reader’s Digest, the publisher of the most widely read magazine in the world.

Budgets Famille, to debut on French newsstands in October, will target the 30- to 45-year-old parents in upper- and middle-income families, the publisher said.

Budgets Famille is Reader’s Digest’s first foreign start-up publication since the company announced last year a plan to expand its operations overseas through acquisitions and the launching of new special interest magazines.

“It is too early to disclose sales or advertisements projections for Budgets Famille at this stage,” said spokesman Bruce Trachtenberg. “But we are confident the publication will meet the demand.”

Henri Capdeville, managing director for the publishing group’s French division, noted that while there are a number of French business magazines focusing on personal finances, none cover specific family issues. The French edition of Reader’s Digest, called Selection, has a monthly circulation of 1.1 million.

“We think Budgets Famille will provide an ideal target market for advertisers,” Capdeville said.