MONTRÉAL—As expected, this week World Color Press received final approval from the Québec Superior Court (Commercial Division) for its "plan of arrangement," clearing the way for it to be acquired by Quad/Graphics. The companies also announced the terms of the share exchange for Worldcolor stock holders.
Mark Angelson
In announcing the deal, executives estimated that the combination will result in at least $225 million in annual savings within 24 months.
The combined company boasts aggregate sales of $5.1 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009. Together, the firm will have nearly 30,000 employees, though that figure is expected to decline during the integration process.
This deal may be exciting from the merged balance sheet and even superficial marketing perspectives. However, Quad’s operations team has never ever had this kind of a challenge to boot strap a printer of this size before.
Concurrent with the closing of the transaction, Quad/Graphics intends to become a publicly traded company. Joel Quadracci to lead the expanded company as Chairman, President and CEO.
Many unanswered questions remain, so stay tuned. Here are some of the remarks made by Mark Angelson, Worldcolor CEO, and Joel Quadracci, chairman, president and CEO of Quad/Graphics, during Tuesday's investor call.