Transcontinental Sells Some of Its Book Printing Assets to Marquis Book Printing

MONTREAL—July 16, 2012—After reviewing its business plan and long-term strategic objectives, Transcontinental Inc. announced that it is selling its book printing assets, namely Transcontinental Gagné printing plant in Louiseville and Transcontinental Métrolitho printing plant in Sherbrooke, to Marquis Book Printing, in Cap-Saint-Ignace, which specializes in book printing.

Given the highly competitive industry of recent years, Transcontinental plans to further specialize in only certain type of markets, such as four-color web offset printing for educational book markets in Québec, Canada and the United States, a niche where it stands out and has an established reputation. Results in these markets have been excellent and the corporation is confident about future development.

François Olivier, president and CEO of Transcontinental, commented, “W thought long and hard before deciding to sell the assets of our Sherbrooke and Louiseville plants. Over the past several months, we have made strategic decisions based on changes in the book printing market. We are sure that our one- and two-color book customers in Québec will continue to be well served by the new acquirer.

“For our part, we remain well positioned to respond to the demands of our customers who are looking for better marketing solutions in our areas of specialization, including educational book printing,” Olivier added.

The transaction will enable Marquis to join the ranks of North American leaders in book printing and to develop new markets and products.

“These acquisitions are aligned to the Marquis business plan, which will see us continue to grow in Canada and in foreign markets from our base in Quebec,” stated Serge Loubier, president of Marquis. “These new acquisitions, the variety of content and the talent of our employees will enable us to take advantage of promising business opportunities. If we are at this stage today, it is due to our client’s trust, and we intend to continue innovating and growing together in the future.”

Over the coming weeks, Marquis will meet with its new employees, become more familiar with all of its acquired assets, and evaluate their overall potential with respect to the company’s business plan. The printer already owns three production plants: Marquis Cap Saint-Ignace, Marquis Montmagny, and Marquis Laurentien in Saint-Augustin; graphic and prepress production centers in Sherbrooke and Quebec City; and a sales office in Montreal. Marquis was founded in Montmagny in 1937.

About TC Transcontinental
TC Transcontinental creates marketing products and services that allow businesses to attract, reach and retain their target customers. The Corporation is the largest printer in Canada and the fourth-largest in North America. As the leading publisher of consumer magazines and French-language educational resources, and of community newspapers in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, it is also one of Canada's top media groups. TC Transcontinental is also the leading door-to-door distributor of advertising material in Canada through its Publisac network in Quebec and Targeo in the rest of Canada. Thanks to a wide digital network of more than 3,500 websites, the company reaches over 18.7 million unique visitors per month in Canada. The company also offers interactive marketing products and services that use new communication platforms supported by marketing strategy and planning services, database analytics, pre-media, e-flyers, email marketing, custom communications and mobile solutions.

About Marquis
Marquis Book Printing, established in Montmagny, Quebec, since 1937, is committed to offering the best solutions for content owners in the publishing and communications industry in Canada and abroad. It has earned its leadership position by offering one-stop shopping for file management, graphic design, traditional and digital printing, and the dissemination of digital documents. Its state-of-the-art production centres are equipped with the top technology on the market. Whether producing traditional, digital or hybrid books or short or long runs, Marquis is defined by the success its solutions generate for its customers day after day.

Sources: Transcontinental and Marquis.