January 31, 2003
Transcontinental hires president for marketing products sector
MONTREAL—Transcontinental has appointed Guy Manuel president of its marketing products printing sector. This position has been open since the company reorganized its operation into three divisions late last year. This sector includes printing and direct-mail services for its commercial customers—retailers, advertising agencies and corporations—across North America. It consists of 22 printing plants and three data management units. The remaining two divisions consist of the media sector and information products, which includes newspaper, magazine and book printing activities. Manuel left his position as vice president of sales and marketing at Colorado-based Mail-Well Services Group to take this role, which is effective Feb. 10.

Invesprint no longer for sale, CEO retires
TORONTO—Invesprint joins the growing list of publicly traded printing companies whose CEOs have announced their departures. Tony Wong is retiring after 21 years with the label and specialty packaging company. Wong will stay on board until a successor has been named, says Wes De Shane, chief financial officer. Meanwhile, Invesprint has officially taken itself off the block after being on the market for nearly three years. De Shane says that early on the company divested itself of two divisions, ExtendMedia, a Toronto-based interactive content creator for the entertainment marketplace, and Beckett, a New Jersey-based label manufacturer. According to a company release, several offers were put on the table, but they didn't reflect the value of the company. Invesprint employs 350 people at its plants across Canada and the U.S.

January 28, 2003
AAGQ loses director, reorganizes operations
MONTREAL—Jules Lizotte has left his post at the AAGQ. As general director, he was the highest ranked, permanent member on board at the AAGQ, says association president Daniel Lafond. Lafond did not say why he left or where he went. The Quebec printing association has noted financial difficulties over the past months and has been negotiating membership dues with the CPIA. In Sept. 2002, the AAGQ warned of its withdrawal from the national association. Lafond says it has been reorganizing and "is very close to a good ending." Although the resolution is a bit premature, Lafond is hoping its reorganizing initiatives will lighten its financial difficulties and re-establish its links with the CPIA. Stay tuned for more details.

Printcafe on the block?
PITTSBURGH, Pa.—A bidding war for the ownership of Printcafe has erupted between Creo and EFI. Creo recently entered into agreements to up its 30% stake in the company to attain a 55% majority standing, with an offer to buy the whole thing. Electronics For Imaging (EFI) is also looking to buy 100% of the company. A day later EFI made an offer to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares at double what Creo offered—US$2.60 per share. Both companies are looking to add Printcafe's portfolio of workflow software to its roster. According to Dr. Joe Webb, it may be too late for EFI to jump in as some shareholders have already approved Creo's offer, but there is still time before the sale officially closes. He said Creo could increase its bid as high as US$2.50 to keep EFI away, but also added that "based on the balance sheet, buying Printcafe is not a financial opportunity worth chasing. It can be easy to overpay for specialized software businesses."

January 24, 2003
PLM looks to scoop up Mailer Magic
MARKHAM, Ont.—PLM has signed a letter of intent to purchase Mailer Magic, a Toronto-based offline inkjet specialty finishing company that has been a longtime supplier to PLM. Strategically, says Marc Fortier, vice president of sales and business development at PLM, the company is a great fit that enhances its "total solution" services. "With PLM 1:1, we cover digital laser colour and digital black-and-white technology," Fortier says. "Completing that portfolio with offline inkjetting gives us a full arsenal of equipment to deliver [a targeted] type of product." PLM plans to offer about $2.8 million for the company in a cash and stock transaction, which is expected to close on Jan. 31.

Cartem Wilco joins Rock-Tenn
MONTREAL—Rock-Tenn Company, a Georgia-based manufacturer of packaging products, has bought Cartem Wilco Group in a $100.5 million cash transaction. Benoit Bourguignon, director of marketing for Wilco, says the company exports more than 50% of its work south of the border and this merger will allow it to increase its presence in the United States. Rock-Tenn also benefits, he says, because the company "is counting on our contacts and expertise to further explore the pharmeceutical and cosmetic packaging markets," which Cartem Wilco specializes in. Several years ago, Rock-Tenn purchased Ling Industries, a Quebec folding carton operation. "Since they bought them, they doubled their size and employees," Bourguignon says. "We are seeing the Rock-Tenn Company as a group that invests and not divests." Wilco, the company's pharmeceutical and cosmetics packaging division, will continue to operate as usual, and Cartem, a manufacturer of folding cartons for the food industry, will integrate with Ling.

January 21, 2003
Moore acquires Wallace Computer Services
LISLE, Ill., MISSISSAUGA, Ont., & STAMFORD, Conn.—Moore has finally taken over its competitor, Illinois-based Wallace Computer Services. Moore has offered about US$1.3 billion to create Moore Wallace, a combined company worth US$3.6 billion. Seven years ago, Moore initiated a hostile takeover attempt of Wallace that fizzled after 18 months. Executives at both companies have changed since then and discussions were renewed in August, 2002. Moore CEO, Mark Angelson, will head the newly merged company. Dr. Joe Webb has commented on the acquisition saying, "Cost cutting and restructuring will be rampant in the new organization." During an investor conference call, executives said restructuring costs will amount to $75 million to $100 million. Staff will also be reduced, but details were not available.

Transcontinental changes name, splits stock
MONTREAL—Transcontinental has announced it intends to change its corporate name and split its stock. In order to "increase the recognition of its corporate identity" Transcontinental is amending its name to Transcontinental Inc. "We proposed a name change in order to reflect the reality that "Transcontinental" is the name by which our company is generally known. This much simpler name will eliminate the confusion and deformation that our current name is occasionally subject to. It also goes a long way in reinforcing our identity as a single, unified company. All our plants recently adopted new names that all include the word "Transcontinental". It was just a matter of time until we got on board at the Corporate level," says Jean Blouin vice president of public relations at Transcontinental. A two-for-one stock split has also been announced. The company says this initiative will increase its shares to more than 88 million and allow individual investors to more easily purchase stock. Both moves remain subject to shareholders' approval.

January 17, 2003
St. Joseph Print Group becomes FSC certified
CONCORD, Ont.—St. Joseph Print Group has been granted the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. This means the company can offer its environmentally-friendly customers a paper that has been produced from trees in FSC-designated forests. These areas are managed to preserve the environment and the paper is guaranteed to meet the criteria and principles of the international organization. Customers are also able to carry the FSC logo on their printed products. This certification applies to St. Joseph's print facilities in Concord, Toronto and Ottawa.

Investors Group cuts back on issuing annual reports
WINNIPEG—Investors Group has informed its mutual fund unitholders that annual reports will only be printed by request. "We are not the only mutual fund manager, nor are we the first [to announce this change]," says Ron Arnst, manager of media relations for Investors Group. Following the lead of Scotia Securities, it is the latest Canadian mutual fund manager to cut its costs by reducing the printing and mailing of the hefty reports. Securities Commissions used to require that all unitholders receive an annual report but recent regulatory changes have relaxed the requirements. "Unitholders have actually been asking for this change," he says. "It's something we're reacting to rather than driving." And while he anticipates this initiative will save the company a substantial amount of money, exact dollar figures and unitholder response is still unknown.

January 14, 2003
Grenville donates printing for 9/11 memorial book
TORONTO—Grenville Printing has donated its printing services to Healing Hearts, a book of sketches that Toronto artist John Coburn created in New York after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Bill Burke, president of Grenville's printing division, said his family lost a friend during the attacks and dedicated his services in the memory of that person. "We just wanted to give something back, and [Coburn] was having trouble getting it done in the U.S." He says the printing and prepress of the 3,500 books totaled about $45,000. The 80-page, hardcover book received support from several groups, including Buntin Reid and Anstey Bookbinding, and is being distributed free of charge to the families of the victims. Healing Hearts, not available for sale, is Coburn's personal observations "of how everyone rallied together, sort of the feel-good side of it."

Former Quebecor exec heads Canadian Olympic Committee
VANCOUVER—Chris Rudge, who retired from his senior post at Quebecor a year ago, has accepted the position of chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC). Top priority on Rudge's list will be raising funds for Canadian athletes and promoting Vancouver's bid for the 2010 Olympics. Rudge held several executive positions at Quebecor over 12 years, including president of Canada and International operations, and was president and part-owner of Web Offset Publications prior to that. The 57-year-old also has quite an extensive sport background. He holds a teaching certificate and a bachelor of physical education and health, was a physical education teacher for the Toronto Board of Education, played professional lacrosse with the Syracuse Stingers and coached the Canadian National Field Lacrosse Team in 1976. Based in the Toronto office, his appointment is effective immediately.

January 10, 2003
C.J. Graphics acquires Colour Technologies
TORONTO—C.J. Graphics has purchased Colour Technologies, a prepress house owned by Mary Black, chair of Ryerson's Graphic Communications Management program. In a prepared release, C.J. Graphics president Jay Mandarino said this acquisition gives the company the scale and capacity to become the leading outsourcer for printing and prepress services in North America. Employees at Colour Technologies have relocated to C.J. Graphics's Toronto facility but the two companies will function independently of one another. In other company news, C.J. Graphics has purchased a Heidelberg CD six-colour press with spot aqueous coater and seven of its staff have become shareholders in the company.

Ryerson offers continuing education classes for graphic arts
TORONTO—This spring Ryerson will offer professional development courses related to the graphic arts industry. The series is made up of ten courses that include: QuarkXPress, PDF Digital Prepress Workflows, Print Buying and Project Management, Sales and Marketing, and Practical Design. Chris Kular, coordinator for continuing education courses in graphic communication, says, "the courses will address the needs of the industry to stay in touch with new technologies and new developments in print production." The 14-hour courses will run over a two-day period for $399, with the exception of Practical Design, which will be held on weeknights over a seven-week period for $599. Courses will be held at the new Graphic Communications Management building and are intended primarily for those in the industry—estimators, prepress and production employees, print buyers, and sales representatives. For more information, contact Chris at 416-979-5000 ext. 6578, ckular@ryerson.ca

January 07, 2003
St. Joseph engineer starts own company
QUEENSVILLE, Ont.—Steve Morrison has left his post as vice president of engineering at St. Joseph Corp. to pursue his dream of starting his own business. Engineered Business Solutions "provides engineering services to the printing industry," he says. Services include project management, machinery installation and plant design and relocation. "There is a lot of activity out there," Morrison says, "and many companies don't carry someone like myself on staff full-time." Morrison has 28 years of industry experience under his belt. He was an engineering technician with Quebecor for 13 years and was employed by St. Joseph for 15 years, most recently completing the design and construction of its new Ottawa facility as project manager. For more information and a full business profile, contact Steve at 905-478-5008, elcorp@sympatico.ca.