Intelligence news

The intelligence services were very active in Africa during the Cold War and Maurice Botbol considered that it was important to know more about how they operated to get a better understanding of events on the continent. Indigo Publications acquired the Paris-based French language publication, Le Monde du Renseignement, and its English edition, Intelligence Newsletter. The publication, which reported on developments in the intelligence services in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the former Soviet Union, became Intelligence Online in 2001.

The switch to digital publication

At the start of the 1990s, big data bases were a rarity in Europe, although they were widely used in the United States. Maurice Botbol contacted the new office of Lexis-Nexis in London and asked it to create a system incorporating all Indigo’s publications in both French and English. Agreement was reached in 1993 and the system was set up with archives going back to January 1 1992. In the years which followed, similar agreements were concluded with Factiva, CD-ROM SNI and L’Européenne de Données. This early digitalisation of Indigo’s archives allowed the company to open its first website two years later with access to three years of archives.

First website

In 1995, Indigo Publications became a pioneer in online news when it announced the “first website for strategic decision-making”, Intelligence Online. The site was a paying one from its first day online. This went against conventional wisdom at the time but proved itself to have been a judicious choice later. Online subscription did not exist at the time but a virtual purse system made it possible to buy articles one at a time.

Exclusive biographies

In an effort to diversify its activities, the group launched a collection of biographical profiles under the title “Les hommes de pouvoir“. Each publication provided exclusive profiles of 100 real decision-makers in an African country.

Africa on the Web

Indigo Publications put on line Africa Intelligence, which was the first professional portal on Africa and which gave access to all the group’s publications on the continent. As with Intelligence Online, launched the previous year, Africa Intelligence was a paying site.

Launch of the Magellan project

As the Web developed, Indigo Publications found itself with three data bases which did not communicate between each other: paper subscribers, paper prospects, website subscribers and prospects. Logically, these three systems needed to be unified but there was no software on the market which met the company’s requirements. Indigo Publications, therefore, launched the Magellan project with the aim of creating a single information system incorporating all its data – editorial, marketing and accounting.This project, which was put in the hands of an IT services company, lasted for two years. From 2002 on, Indigo Publications took over the maintenance and development of the system by setting up its own internal IT service.

French power games

Indigo Publications bought La Lettre A from journalist-entrepreneur Jean-Michel Quatrepoint. This weekly publication, founded in 1978, is aimed at high-level French decision-makers. It analyses the business and political power issues of the moment. At the same time, the group launched the LaLettreA.fr website.

Independent press

Indigo Publications was one of the founder members of the Syndicat de la Presse Indépendante d’Information en Ligne (Spiil), which was set up in October 2009. Since then, Maurice Botbol has been president of the organisation which is devoted to the development of the digital press.

The discreet intermediaries behind the big contrats

Based on the same model as Africa Intelligence’s Insiders, Intelligence Online launched its own Insiders Series devoted to the discreet intermediaries, often former political or business leaders, who can be found at the heart of negotiations on major international contracts. The first to be published were: Dominique de Villepin, Aaron Frenkel, Iskandar Safa, Dick Evans…

100% digital

After a long period of preparation, Indigo Publications went 100% digital. The print editions of the publications on Africa Intelligence and Intelligence Online have gone. By way of compensation, the websites have been greatly enriched and improved.

La Lettre A goes daily

Having been a weekly for 40 years, on 19 March, the french publication La Lettre A became ‘the agenda-setting daily about power and influence’ in partnership with the specialist media newsletter PresseNews.

Available from 6.30am from Monday to Friday, the daily edition contains exclusive news and insights into the latest developments in the political, corporate and media worlds.

Fresh new look for our fully in-house Clients/Marketing software!

Created in 1999 to meet Indigo Publications’ specific needs, our back office programme Magellan received new and improved upgrades in 2020 that were two years in the making. This project, which our IT department handled from inception to rollout, gives our customer services and marketing teams an integrated CRM/ERP system able to better serve our commercial and marketing needs.

Africa Intelligence, the new continent daily!

Africa Intelligence becomes the leading digital daily to offer full coverage of the African continent for professionals.

Available as of today, the new publication draws on nearly 40 years of experience chronicling the continent and the combined expertise of five confidential newsletters: West African Newsletter, The Indian Ocean Newsletter, Maghreb Confidential, Africa Energy Intelligence and Africa Mining Intelligence.

Guided by the same editorial line of the five publications on which it is built, Africa Intelligence now provides its readers with a single publication of fully exclusive coverage of national policymaking as well as key regional and continent-wide developments. This publication comes out every weekday at 5 a.m. GMT.

Africa-to-Africa economic, political and diplomatic relations as well as pan-African security issues have considerable grown in recent years. Emerging powerhouses the likes of China, Turkey, Brazil, Russia and India have developed strategies to broaden their presence across the continent. That is why we believe a bi-monthly newsletter or one covering a single region or economic sector no longer fully reflects these new realities.

The new continent daily Africa Intelligence aims to continue to provide its trademark understanding of the workings of power within each African state. The editorial team has grown and will continue to cover the Oil and Gas and Mining industries as well as new key economic sectors with a continent-wide impact: Infrastructure and Power, Defence and Security, Banking and Finance.

This new editorial format comes with a new offer: a single subscription plan that now provides access to all Africa Intelligence content. Preferential rates apply based on the number of readers per subscription.

The website itself has been entirely developed by Africa Intelligence’s in-house IT team to provide a more intuitive and user-friendly browsing experience whether viewed from a computer, tablet or mobile phone. Subscribers can also opt to “scroll” the issue to read it as easily as if it were a PDF.

Indigo Publications is turning 40!

Paris, November 8. – On 31 October 1981, Indigo Publications published its first expert newsletter, The Indian Ocean Newsletter (La Lettre de l’océan Indien), in French and English. This first issue marked the beginning of an adventure which is still going strong.

The founder of Indigo Publications, journalist Maurice Botbol, set out on a mission to produce exclusive and impartial information with high added value for a demanding international readership. To achieve this goal, he relied on capital owned solely by individuals and an advertising-free business model based exclusively on reader subscriptions.

Forty years on, the company’s founding values are more than ever at the heart of Indigo Publications, whose team continues to show a strong commitment to investigative journalism and economic and editorial independence, day by day.

Our philosophy is applied with conviction by all Indigo Publications staff: journalists, editors, translators, sales staff, the marketing department and IT developers.

Our strong collective commitment has allowed us to stay on course without ever relinquishing our founding principles. This, despite meeting many challenges along the way, from the company’s foundation to Indigo Publications’ highly ambitious digital strategy implemented in 2000. Our first website, Intelligence Online, was created in 1995 with a paywall which was unique in the media at the time.

Today, Indigo Publications has a team of more than 60 permanent staff and around 100 external collaborators, who are encouraged to be independent, show initiative and be creative. This company culture has fostered a swathe of cutting-edge developments throughout our business. Our publications Africa Intelligence, Intelligence Online and La Lettre A, which are now digital dailies, are a reflection of this dynamic.

On our fortieth anniversary, we would also like to thank all our readers, both old and new, for their trust. It is thanks to them that in 2021, Indigo Publications will have recorded its 19th consecutive year of growth and positive results.

In the coming years, our news teams and Indigo Publications’ other departments will continue to grow in order to offer our subscribers even more extensive coverage, while remaining, as ever, always fiercely independent.

Intelligence Online, the intelligence world’s new daily newspaper

Paris, April 26 2021. – Intelligence Online, which is published in English and French, today becomes the first digital daily newspaper wholly dedicated to intelligence.

After having been published twice a month since it was founded in 1980, Intelligence Online now offers its readers a complete, 100% exclusive edition from 6 am GMT every morning of the week. The new daily rhythm will enable it to provide more regular and deeper coverage of a global intelligence community which has grown considerably in recent years.

• At state level, the growing number of threats has profoundly changed the way the intelligence services are organised, as well as the resources they use and the priorities they set themselves.
• On the business intelligence side, increasingly intense business competition worldwide has led to great financial battles, participated in by an increasing number of private investigation firms.
• Finally, the cyber sphere, with its new operators, has become a major and ever-changing challenge, which is key to intelligence gathering and the organisation of major influence campaigns.

Daily commitment

Daily publication seemed to us to be the best way of dealing with a constantly changing world, which needs to be covered at global and local level and in which the boundaries between the public and private spheres have become increasingly porous.

This new rhythm comes with the same commitment on our part to provide our readers with original, high value-added investigations and strategic information. We pick up the faint signals and anticipate the subjects which will pose the challenges of tomorrow.

A stronger editorial team

To achieve this, our editorial team in Paris has been expanded through the recruitment of specialist journalists to scrutinise the activities and logic of those who exercise power in Europe, the Middle East, North America, Russia and China.

This enlarged team aims to identify the networks which compose the intelligence community – the official operators as well as the undercover intermediaries, the private operators and the high-tech players. Our aim is to throw light on the global intelligence sector.

Smoother navigation

Developed entirely by our in-house IT team, Intelligence Online‘s new website offers more intuitive navigation and easier reading on mobile phones, tablets and computers. Subscribers also have an exclusive page by page browsing feature which allows them to look through a complete web edition as they would a PDF document.

New Indigo website goes online!

Paris, February 24. – After many weeks of work, we are celebrating today the release of our new corporate website! Simplified and modernized compared to its 2015 predecessor, it aims to offer you a comprehensive and precise vision of our identity and the values that guide our way of conceiving our activities.

This new site also presents our editorial line – common to Africa Intelligence, Intelligence Online and La Lettre A – and invites you to explore the websites of our publications.

Glitz.paris, the first investigative newsletter dedicated to the luxury sector

Paris, 29 September. During Fashion Week, Indigo Publications is launching Glitz.paris, the first investigative weekly focused on the luxury goods industry worldwide, published in English and French. Glitz.paris is published ad-free and available by subscription only. Several million euros will be invested in the publication with an eye to breaking even in 2026. Glitz.paris will initially appear weekly, aspiring to daily editions within two years with a team of 15 journalists.

Why Glitz.paris?

The luxury sector is on display with its lavish fashion shows, its celebrity muses, its gleaming jewels, its dream hotels and its sumptuous boutiques. But behind the scenes, beyond the glitter and the glossy adverts, lies an extremely powerful industry. The top 100 international luxury goods firms account for a combined turnover of $300bn, a figure constantly on the rise.

Glitz.paris is directed towards a professional audience. Every Thursday, it will dig beneath the surface, unlocking the mysteries surrounding the major luxury groups of Paris, Geneva, Milan, London and New York.

Glitz.paris‘s newsroom will have the editorial freedom to sift through the global luxury community’s secrets, great and small. It will delve into the inner workings of the luxury houses, of the sector’s chase for talent, of its family business interests and succession struggles. It will probe firms’ development strategies and scrutinise the industry’s capital flows.

A team dedicated to investigation

Philippe Vasset, Glitz.paris‘s editor-in-chief, is an acclaimed investigative journalist and author. At Indigo Publications, Vasset served eight years at the head of Intelligence Online, focussed on intelligence services around the world, before taking the helm at Africa Intelligence, centred on that continent’s networks of power.

During its pre-launch this summer, Glitz.paris published a number of investigative pieces that enjoyed significant impact, including a look at LVMH establishing a research centre at the elite French engineering school Ecole Polytechnique (click here for free access), and the inside story on how Chanel moved its head office to London and its asset holdings into tax havens tied to the British Crown (read here).

“Most of the publications covering luxury focus on the products and how they’re consumed. That’s not our approach. Glitz readers will be tapping into the major luxury houses’ strategies, tracking the progress of key industry figures and anticipating capital flows,” explains Indigo Publications CEO Quentin Botbol. “Glitz.paris is in the spirit of what we’ve been doing for over 40 years at Indigo Publications: providing coverage of strategic sectors where information is hard to come by.”

An independent publisher

Glitz.paris is published in Paris by Indigo Publications, an independent press company created by a team of journalists in 1981.

Indigo Publications operates in France and internationally with three additional publications: Intelligence Online, Africa Intelligence and La Lettre A. Indigo Publications specialises in high-value-added information and depends exclusively on readers’ subscriptions for financing.

Indigo Publications’ turnover has grown between 16% and 18% annually and is expected to reach €7.5m in 2022 with an operating profit in the range of €800,000. The company has 75 employees and nearly 130 freelancers.

Indigo Publications does not use advertising or do any consulting work. It is independent of any government or political organisation.

Financial accounts 2021

For its 40th year in business, Indigo Publications recorded its 19th consecutive year of growth and positive results. This strong performance has been accompanied by an ambitious recruitment drive in all departments (editorial, commercial and IT).

Turnover reached €6.64m in 2021, representing 16% growth (it was also 16% in 2020), while operating expenses increased by 20% (13% in 2020). The expense-to-revenue ratio was therefore 82%. The operating profit reached €1.23m (€1.18m in 2020).

As of 31 March 2022, Indigo Publications has a full-time workforce of 67 people, including 45 editorial staff and 22 in other departments (sales, marketing, IT, management). Twenty of these positions were created during the last year. The company also has a growing network of more than 100 freelance correspondants around the world.

This recruitment drive has enabled us to produce more informative and higher quality publications, and to expand our editorial coverage.

Since 2009, Indigo Publications has been rewarding its employees for the company’s results through a profit-share plan. A payment of €258,000 was made for 2021. In addition to this plan, an employee shareholding programme has also been set up.

The first quarter of 2022 has already shown strong growth. As a result, Indigo Publications expects its turnover to increase by 15 to 20% in 2022.

Revenues and net profit 2006-2021 (in thousands of euros)

2021 profit and loss account

Indigo withdraws from content aggregators

Paris, 4 May. After decades of working with the main content aggregators in the news market (LexisNexis, Factiva and CEDROM-SNi), Indigo Publications is withdrawing from their databases in order to have exclusivity over the publication of its information and to be closer to all of its readers.

We believe that it is essential that our news be read on our own websites. Indigo Publications is committed to producing daily, specifically organised and well-presented editions, the quality of which is reflected on our sites themselves and also in our daily email summary. It is thanks to this contract with our readers that we are able to ensure that our subscribers are always ahead of the game.

In addition, our subscribers can also enjoy many exclusive options. These include the daily newsletter, keyword notifications, weekly recaps, “scroll-through edition” mode, “Read later” option, and many more.

Annual Accounts 2022

In 2022, Indigo Publications recorded its 20^th consecutive year of growth and net profit.

Thanks to a significant surge in our readership, our turnover continued to grow in 2022, reaching €7.6m, which represents an increase of +17% (+16% in 2021).

Following a period of active recruitment, our operating costs increased by 34% (20% in 2021).

As of 31 March 2023, Indigo Publications employs 83 permanent members of staff, including 58 editorial staff, and 25 in other departments (sales, marketing/communications, IT, management). 16 of those positions were created in the last year, building on the 20 created in 2021. Our editorial team also works with a growing network of over 120 freelance reporters and correspondents around the world.

For the very first time, Indigo Publications received a subsidy in 2022 from the French Ministry of Culture designed to promote media plurality. The subsidy is allocated to digital press outlets that provide recognised general or political news services. It is calculated according to the size of the outlet’s editorial team, and its purpose is to “encourage the development of editorial activities,” “allow access to a quality press” and foster “a plurality of ideas”.

The subsidy amounted to €1.2m for the years 2021 and 2022. In our accounts, half was categorised as operating revenue and the other half as exceptional income.

This year, the company’s operating profit reached €990k (€1.23M in 2021).

Since 2009, Indigo Publications has maintained a profit-share plan, allowing employees to benefit from the company’s results. A total of €328,000 was paid out for 2022. In addition to this plan, the company also operates an employee shareholding programme.

The first quarter of 2023 has shown a solid growth in subscriptions. Consequently, Indigo Publications expects its turnover to increase by more than 20% in 2023.

Revenues and Net Profit 2007-2022 (in thousands of euros)

2022 Profit and Loss Account