Troubled Quebecor World to rise from the ashes

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Troubled Quebecor World is to present a new proposal for survival to its creditors today. Already last year a spokesman of Quebecor World had announced that the company would be changing its name as it re-emerged from bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States. One of the new names in the running is Novink, for which Quebecor World filed a trademark application to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Other names have been under consideration as well since  Quebecor World’s largest pre-bankruptcy shareholder, Quebecor Inc., urged the company to remove “Quebecor” from ist corporate name.

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• End of gravure?

Quebecor World rejected a US$ 1.35 billion bid by its rival RR Donnelley, convinced that it can rise from the ashes with a solid restructuring plan. Some analysts pointed at the risks of a Donnelley takeover which would include the hassles of a six-month antitrust review with no real guarantee of a successful outcome. 

Quebecor World’s situation can be seen as a result of the huge overcapacity in gravure publication printing. Problems started to get serious when German publishing and printing conglomerate Burda refused to buy Quebecor’s gravure operations in Europe, following Burda’s joint-venture with HT Media in India and the relocation of a host of gravure engravers and presses to their site in Greater Noida.

Quebecor World’s former holding company Quebecor Inc. is the majority shareholder of Canada’s largest media group, Quebecor Media, which in turn owns Sun Media Corporation, a conglomerate holding some of Canada’s most important newspapers such as the Toronto Sun, as well as telecom, cable television and other important media interests in Canada and the UK. Last year, Quebecor Media achieved a sales turnover of US$ 3.7 billion with net profits of US$ 187 million.

Quebecor Media, meanwhile, announced the creation of the Quebecor Media Network, a new flyer printing and distributing subsidiary. The capabilities of subsidiaries Alex Media Services, Messageries Dynamiques, the community weekly distribution network, the Islington printing plant in Ontario and the Mirabel printing plant in Quebec are being pooled to create the new entity. The merger will solidify Quebecor Media's leadership in flyer printing and distribution services. Last year alone, the company distributed more than 1.5 billion flyers across Canada.
The ultramodern printing plants in Islington and Mirabel, in which Quebecor Media invested over $250 million and which meet the highest standards of colour reproduction, combined with the company's extensive network of weeklies and dailies covering most major Canadian markets, will enable the Quebecor Media Network to quickly position itself as an industry leader.

The new unit will serve customers across Canada with no intermediary, offering:
- A dependable and verifiable delivery system;
- In-house distribution analytics via Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
- Targeting by FSA (Forward Sortation Area), DA (Dissimination Area) and LDU (Local Delivery Unit);
- Supervised carrier force.

"The launch of the Quebecor Media Network will enhance the company's integrated value proposition to its business partners and advertisers at the local, regional and national levels," said Pierre Karl Peladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor Media. "More than ever, business customers will enjoy the full benefit of the power of Quebecor Media's print and electronic media properties, from coast to coast."

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