Transcontinental Printing

MONTREAL—Transcontinental Inc. is bidding to take control of Toronto-based PLM Group. It has made a takeover bid of C$3.50 per share for PLM’s 29.5 million outstanding shares, with a total enterprise value, including debt, of $130 million. Barry Pike, founder, chairman and CEO of PLM, and Pike Holdings (a holding company he controls) have signed a hard lock-up agreement to tender their shares, which account for 51.2 percent of the outstanding shares. On the day the deal was announced, the offer represented a 25 percent premium over PLM’s trading price on the Toronto Stock Exchange from the previous day. PLM Group posted earnings of C$126 million

MONTREAL—Transcontinental was chosen by Editions Gallimard to print “Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort,” or “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final installment of the beloved series.It is the third book of the series that Transcontinental has produced as a French edition. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” will hit…

MONTREAL—Transcontinental is pouring C$2 million into its growing Metrolitho printing plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The initiative will add 24,150 square feet, doubling the facility’s size, and is expected to be completed by this November.Metrolitho, which employs 150 workers, specializes in short-run book, perfect bound, hard cover and spiral bound book production.

TORONTO—The recent Offset and Beyond 2007 Management and Technical Conference, which for the first time combined annual meetings targeted toward the web and sheetfed offset communities, capitalized on its Canadian venue to secure the Right Honorable Brian Mulroney and several prominent Canadian printers as featured keynote speakers. Inlaid with humor, Mulroney—who also serves as Quebecor World’s board chairman—spoke on a wide range of topics including free trade, health care, the role of government, leadership, the current global political condition and his eight-plus years as the prime minister of Canada. The 675 conference attendees also saluted Rémi Marcoux, executive chairman of Montreal-based Transcontinental Inc. and a

Cunningham, CGI Reunited JERSEY CITY, NJ—Michael Cunningham has returned to the organization he helped start. Cunningham was named CEO of The CGI Group, the successor to Cunningham Graphics International, which he founded in 1989. He will report directly to CGI Chairman Peter Furlonge. Cunningham has served as a professor at San Diego State and is a research professor at Cal Poly, as well as an adjunct professor at New York University. American Banknote Buys Firm FORT LEE, NJ—American Banknote, parent company of ABnote Group, finished a deal to obtain Arthur Blank & Co., of Boston, for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. Arthur Blank & Co.

PITTSBURGH—May 10, 2007—The Offset and Beyond 2007 Management and Technical Conference for the Web and Sheetfed Offset Communities was very excited to have the Right Honorable Brian Mulroney open the conference on Monday, April 30, 2007 in Toronto, Canada. Inlaid with humor, Mulroney spoke on a wide range of topics including free trade, health care, the role of government, leadership, the current global political condition, and his time as the prime minister of Canada. The 675 attendees also saluted Remi Marcoux, executive chairman of the board with Transcontinental Inc. as the recipient of the Harry V. Quadracci VISION Award. The founder of Transcontinental, Mr. Marcoux

CHICAGO—May 8, 2007—Transcontinental, Canada’s largest printer and sixth-largest in North America, today launched Virtual Edge, a virtual press side proofing technology developed for use by both small and large-sized publishers. The introduction of Virtual Edge will give customers greater control over their print projects while improving proofing accuracy, lowering costs and saving valuable production time. Virtual Edge allows catalogers and magazine publishers to approve color proofs remotely without ever leaving their offices. Using a combination of highly calibrated monitors and specialized software, publishers can view and manage intricate color proofs online while being confident final output will mirror exactly what they approve. “The

AS ALL book printers are aware, the practice of publishers outsourcing certain work to Asian, European and South American countries is not a novel concept—no pun intended. But the rules of engagement have changed in the Internet age, and some of the firms impacted most by the inequity of the U.S. trade imbalance have taken exception to advantages that foreign governments provide firms who export to America. In the case of China and the recent tariff levied on the import of coated paper, it matters little. Book publishers are saving as much as 50 percent by farming book manufacturing overseas to popular industrial locales

MONTREAL—Transcontinental Printing has tapped MAN Roland to provide three Colorman XXL newspaper web presses for its printing plant that will produce the San Francisco Chronicle and other products.Last November, Transcontinental signed a 15-year contract with Hearst Corp. to print several products and provide postpress services. The site of the new San Francisco Bay area plant…

MONTREAL—04/23/07—Transcontinental Printing has selected three COLORMAN XXL presses from MAN Roland to power its first newspaper printing plant in the United States. The COLORMAN XXL presses are scheduled to be installed next year and will go on edition in 2009. Transcontinental’s unique newspaper production model has led major dailies to entrust their printing to Canada’s largest printer. A global leader in newspaper production, Transcontinental already prints 75 daily and weekly newspapers including Canada’s national newspaper – The Globe and Mail, the French-language daily La Presse and The New York Times for distribution in Canada and upstate New York. Pierre Manseau, Transcontinental’s Director of Infrastructure and Production