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Montreal, February 11, 2008 – Transcontinental
Media today announced that effective immediately it will no
longer publish The Daily News of Halifax. Transcontinental
also announced the launch of a free daily newspaper, Metro,
for Halifax residents in partnership with Metro International
S.A. and Torstar Corporation. The first edition of Metro
in Halifax will be published this Thursday.
“We worked hard to deliver an economically viable
newspaper in the Halifax market with The Daily News,”
said Marc-Noël Ouellette, Senior Vice President, Newspaper
Group, Transcontinental Media. “It was an extremely
tough business decision which does not affect Transcontinental’s
Halifax area distribution network, its four locally published
weekly newspapers or the real estate guide Transaction.
“In this context, we are delighted to continue our
presence as a daily newspaper publisher in the Halifax market
with Metro International S.A. and Torstar Corporation,”
added Mr. Ouellette. “We’re proud that the paper
will be printed at our Ragged Lake printing facility.”
Metro editions are published in more than 100 major cities
in Europe, North and South America and Asia. In Canada, Metro
is published in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and
Ottawa, as well as in Montreal, where Transcontinental is
also its publisher and printer.
Transcontinental acquired The Daily News tabloid
in 2002, which had a circulation of about 20,000 copies. The
92 employees with The Daily News will be offered
severance and outplacement services. A few will find employment
opportunities within the Transcontinental network in Nova
Scotia, which has approximately 800 employees and encompasses
11 weekly and 4 daily newspapers, a distribution network and
2 printing facilities.
About Transcontinental Media
The fourth-largest print media group in Canada,
with more than 3,000 employees and annual revenues of $633 million
in 2007, Transcontinental Media is the country’s leading
publisher of consumer magazines and of French-language educational
resources as well as being the largest publisher of community
newspapers in Eastern Canada. It publishes the weekday daily
Métro in Montreal, owns a number of digital
business units, and is also, through Publi-Sac, Quebec’s
leading door-to-door distributor of advertising material.
Transcontinental Media is a subsidiary of Transcontinental
Inc. (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B), which has approximately 15,000 employees
in Canada, the United States and Mexico and reported revenues
of C$2.3 billion in 2007.
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For information:
Media
Nessa Prendergast
Director, Media Relations
Transcontinental Inc.
Telephone: (514) 954 2809
nessa.prendergast@transcontinental.ca
Financial Community
Jennifer F. McCaughey
Director, Investor Relations
Transcontinental Inc.
Telephone: (514) 954 2821
jennifer.mccaughey@transcontinental.ca |
