MONTREAL—Quebecor World and Wenner Media have come to terms on a new, multi-year agreement for the printing of three Wenner titles: Rolling Stone, US Weekly and Men’s Journal. The deal extends the relationship between the companies and sees Quebecor World increase its volume with Wenner Media by about 10 percent.Quebecor World will be the exclusive…
MONTREAL—Should Quebecor World emerge from bankruptcy in good shape, it will likely remember those entities who stuck by its side. . .as well as those who turned their backs on the venerable printer. That turnaround faces a treacherous road, for now. Quebecor World has opted to close its Magog, Quebec facility. The plant produced magazines and retail inserts for the U.S. and Canadian markets. About 300 full-time jobs will be lost, including 200 positions already on temporary layoff, which will be made permanent. On the plus side, it received final approval for US$1 billion debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. The financing is comprised of a
MONTREAL—Bankruptcy-protected Quebecor World has decided against challenging The Economist magazine’s attempt to opt out of its printing contract. The Economist Newspaper N.A., publisher of The Economist, notified Quebecor World that it intends to terminate their printing agreement at the expiration of the initial term this September. The publisher asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James Peck for permission to serve the notice to Quebecor World. Still, both sides are in talks regarding a possible extension of the deal, which would have automatically renewed had The Economist not given notice prior to March 31. Under bankruptcy rules, all changes to contracts are frozen pending
Minnesota’s SFI Builds Habitat for Humanity Home COOK, MN—What started out in January as a well-managed tree farm owned by Minnesota Senator Tom Bakk will be a Habitat for Humanity home in Hibbing, MN, this spring. The home is being built as a unique effort by the Minnesota Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Implementation Committee, which teamed up with the local Habitat for Humanity using SFI-certified materials from Minnesota forest products companies. Industry firms, which contributed materials and/or cash donations, included Boise, Forest Capital Partners, NewPage Corp., Sappi Fine Paper North America, UPM (Blandin Paper Mill) and Verso Paper (Sartell Mill). “SFI is proud to
JUST WHEN it appeared that merger and acquisition activity was beginning to garner steam in the printing industry, along came a downturn in the economy. Is it a recession? Ask again about six months from now. Most economist pundits feel we’re heading in that direction or at least may start suffering stagflation—slow growth, high unemployment and fast-rising prices. At any rate, the writing is on the wall, enough so that President Bush rushed through a $170 billion economic stimulus package in February, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke continues to cut interest rates to help stave off a recession. For the sake of discussion,
MONTREAL—The Canadian Tire catalog, a staple for millions of Canadian households since its debut in 1928, has been discontinued, according to The Canadian Press. The decision robs Quebecor World of another key contract, and comes on the heels of losing its Rogers Communications pact and potentially seeing The Economist magazine opt out later this year. The tire company decided to concentrate more of its energies to online marketing. An online version of the catalog will be available. In other news, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that Quebecor World has filed a motion in U.S. bankruptcy court seeking to exercise its option to terminate
MONTREAL—Bankruptcy-protected Quebecor World decided against challenging The Economist magazine’s attempt to opt out of its printing contract. The Economist Newspaper N.A., publisher of The Economist, notified Quebecor World that it intends to terminate their printing agreement at the expiration of the initial term this September. The Economist asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James Peck for permission to serve the notice to Quebecor World. Still, both sides are in talks regarding a possible extension of the deal, which would have automatically renewed had The Economist not given notice prior to March 31. Under bankruptcy rules, all changes to contracts are frozen pending a
MONTREAL—Quebecor World has asked for approval from bankruptcy court to pay managers $4.6 million in performance bonuses earned prior to its Chapter 11 filing, according to a report in the Lincoln (NE) Journal Star. The struggling printer filed the request with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York in order to dole out incentive-based bonuses that 376 managers earned for their performance in the second half of 2007, the paper reported. The move comes on the heels of Quebecor World’s failure to negotiate new terms for a $1 billion loan for financing operations during the bankruptcy period. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck gave Quebecor
To help solidify branding and enhance name recognition, the Goodway Group of Companies, headquartered in Philadelphia, announced that its Massachusetts plant has changed its name from Goodway Graphics to Goodway Group of Massachusetts. Their sister facility near Washington, DC, has changed to Goodway Group of Virginia. In other company news, both the Massachusetts and Virginia plants are now FSC certified. The Print Council announced that GLS Companies, Brooklyn Park, MN; The Hickory Printing Group, Hickory, NC; Jet Inc., Downers Grove, IL; and Lake County Press, Waukegan, IL, have joined the organization. As new members, the companies will work in concert with other member companies
PRINTER NEWS Times Printing Is Climbing Green Tier RANDOM LAKE, WI—Times Printing has announced its acceptance into Wisconsin’s Green Tier program, which is sponsored by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The program “provides incentives that enable good environmental citizens to go beyond compliance and perform to a higher environmental level, while allowing the DNR to focus its resources on facilities not meeting requirements,” says Wendy Scholler, Times’ environmental, health and safety coordinator. Times’ many eco-friendly initiatives include replacing three catalytic oxidizers with one regenerative thermal oxidizer, which has dramatically reduced energy use and VOC emissions; setting up recycling programs for ink
