FP Canadian Newspapers Buys Winnipeg Publishing and Distribution
Assets From Transcontinental
Winnipeg, July 13, 2004 – FP Canadian Newspapers announced
today it has acquired five weekly newspapers in the Winnipeg
area from Transcontinental Media, as well as Transcontinental’s
door-to-door advertising delivery businesses in Winnipeg
and Brandon, Manitoba and Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The five newspapers acquired are
The Lance, The Metro,
The Herald, The Times and
The Headliner. They
have a combined weekly circulation of 169,000 copies.
The advertising distribution operations reach approximately
290,000 households. The acquired operations employ
about 40 people and engage numerous local contractors and
hundreds of independent delivery carriers. Their revenues
total approximately $8 million annually.
FP Canadian Newspapers also owns the
Winnipeg Free Press
and
Brandon Sun daily newspapers. The company will
create a wholly-owned subsidiary, Canstar Community News
Limited, with separate management to operate the newly-acquired
weeklies and delivery operations.
“This is an excellent addition for us which complements
very well our other holdings and their related businesses,”
said Ronald Stern, Chairman of FP Canadian Newspapers. “We
will now be able to supplement what our loyal Winnipeg readers
and advertisers get from the
Free Press every day
with more targeted local news, features and promotional
material, enhancing our ability to serve their information
and advertising needs.”
Canstar management will report to Rudy Redekop, president
of FP Canadian Newspapers, who cited the history and local
neighbourhood ties of the weeklies as a strength that FP
“will seek to preserve and enhance.”
“These Winnipeg community newspapers are well-established
titles, one of which was first published in 1917,”
said Redekop. “We look forward to seeing them grow
and serve their communities by providing excellent neighbourhood
news and features.”
For his part, André Préfontaine, president
of Transcontinental Media, the publishing arm of Transcontinental
Inc., said: “These newspapers and distribution services
are sound operations, but are no longer strategic for us
and had limited growth potential within our portfolio. Considering
that FP Canadian Newspapers is a local company with a strong
corporate culture and that the assets it acquired today
should add value to its quite complementary holdings, this
is good news for the employees and customers of both companies.”
About FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership and
FP Newspapers Income Fund
FP Newspapers Income Fund (TSX:FP.UN) owns securities entitling
it to 49% of the distributable cash of FP Canadian Newspapers
Limited Partnership.
FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership owns the
Winnipeg
Free Press, the
Brandon Sun, and their related
businesses. The
Winnipeg Free Press newspaper publishes
seven days a week, serving Winnipeg and Manitoba with an
average seven-day circulation of approximately 128,000.
The
Brandon Sun also publishes seven days a week,
serving the region with an average circulation of approximately
15,000. Based in Winnipeg, the businesses employ approximately
580 people in Winnipeg and Brandon. Further information
can be found at
www.fpnewspapers.com
and in the disclosure documents filed by FP Newspapers Income
Fund with the securities regulatory authorities available
at
www.sedar.com.
About Transcontinental Media
The fourth largest print media group in Canada, with more
than 3000 employees and annual revenues of $505 million
in 2003, Transcontinental Media is the country’s leading
publisher of consumer magazines and its second-largest publisher
of community newspapers. Its titles in French and English
are among the most prestigious in the industry, reaching
more than 20 million readers from coast to coast every month.
Transcontinental Media is also Canada's leading door-to-door
distributor of advertising material, most notably through
Publi-Sac, which is distributed to 2.8 million households
in Quebec each week.
Transcontinental Media is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transcontinental
Inc., one of the 10 largest commercial printers in North
America. Canada's largest printer of flyers, books and newspapers,
and a strong second in the printing of magazines, catalogues
and directories, Transcontinental also has, through its
Canadian and U.S. facilities, the geographic platform and
complete service offering necessary to cover the direct
marketing needs of the entire North American market. Transcontinental
Inc., a Canadian corporation whose shares are listed on
the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TCL.A,
has more than 12,000 employees in Canada, the United
States and Mexico, and reported revenues of C$1.9 billion
in 2003.
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For information:
FP Canadian Newspaper
Media
Ronald Stern
Chairman
FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership
Telephone: (604) 681-8817
Financial Community
Rudy Redekop
President
FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership
Telephone: (204) 697-7356
rudy.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
Transcontinental
Media
Jake Brennan
Public Relations Department
Transcontinental Inc.
Telephone: (514) 954-4000
jake.brennan@transcontinental.ca
Financial Community
Daniel Denault
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Transcontinental Inc.
Telephone: (514) 954-4003
daniel.denault@transcontinental.ca