May 29, 2001
Quebecor facing debt crisis
MONTREAL - Quebecor Inc., may soon have to start selling off some of its assets to service its massive debt load of $ 6.7 billion, according to a report in the National Post. One of the assets the company may consider selling is its profitable commercial printing division, Quebecor World. The report states that the company does not have the cash to service the $1.5 billion debt of its subsidiary Quebecor Media, due in part to the additional debt brought on by the acquistion of cable outlet Videotron. Quebecor denied that it's considering selling controlling interest in its printing division, stating that there are a "number of options."

Print sales hit US $163 billion in 2000
ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Sales and employment in the printing industry are growing steadily in the U.S. according to a report issued by the Printing Industries of America (PIA). The report entitled Print Market Atlas: The Complete Reference Guide to Current Market Trends, looks at the printing industry across 17 market segments. The report lists industry sales for 2000 at US$163 billion, with total employment in excess of 1.2 million. The number of printing plants, however, declined from more than 49,400 in 1999 to 47,667 in 2000.

May 25, 2001
Caxton hires executive from St.Joseph
TORONTO - Caxton Group has hired Rob Young formerly of St. Joseph Corp., to fill the role of vice-president of its PG(E) Tools Inc. division in Markham, Ont. Young, a former sales executive at St. Joseph's Ottawa/Hull division, also worked with Caxton CEO Gord Griffiths at Quebecor. PG(E) Tools Inc., which specializes in e-procurement software and procurement assistance to large organizations, was acquired by Caxton last February.

DuPont exec joins Quebecor
GREENWICH, CT. - Quebecor World announced yesterday that fomer DuPont vice-president Jeffrey Peterson, has joined Quebecor as its new senior vice- president of e-business. Peterson was vice-president of global e-business, at DuPont, and will be responsible for developing crucial e-business strategies for Quebecor World. Peterson held a similar planning position at General Electric, and co-founded the Management Systems Laboratories at Virginia Tech.

May 23, 2001
Quebecor signs directory printing contract in Mexico
MONTREAL - Quebecor World Inc. has signed a three-year contract to print directories for Mexican publisher ADSA, a subsidiary of Telmex, Mexico's largest telecommunications company. The deal, which has a two-year option, will also lead to more investment in the Mexico City region. Quebecor has confirmed it is in final discussions to construct a plant featuring computer-to-plate equipment and satellite links to its other directory plants in North and South America. The new facility will employ roughly 300 people and print 14 million directories annually.

One standard for paper supply chain gets closer
WASHINGTON - The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) and the Graphic Communication Association (GCA) have joined forces to form papiNet NA, as part of an international effort to produce one set of standards for the paper supply chain. The purpose of papiNet NA is to work with the European Paper Consortium (EPC), to build a single set of XML-based e-business standards to improve accuracy and efficiency of transactions, while reducing costs of operations. Membership in papiNet NA is open to North American paper and wood producers, distributors, convertors, printers and publishers. New guidelines governing purchase orders, order confirmations, call-offs, delivery messages and invoices have been implemented. Standards for goods receipt, request for quotations and debit/credit memos are in development.

May 18, 2001
Paperlinx buys Coast Paper
VANCOUVER - PrintCan has learned that Coast Paper has been sold to Australian paper giant Paperlinx. The deal was completed earlier this week. Coast Paper has been up for sale since last November, after its owners-the Garnett family- decided not to make plans for succession. Paperlinx is a global, publicly traded producer and marketer of fine paper and packaging products. It has annual sales of $1.26 billion.

Quebecor signs US$30 million printing deal in Argentina
MONTREAL - Quebecor World Inc. has signed a ten year printing agreement with Argentinean publisher Editorial Estrada. The deal, valued at more than US$30 million, also includes the printing assets of Editorial Estrada. Quebecor will redistribute these assets to its existing book manufacturing facilities in Bogata and Buenos Aires, in order to reduce costs.

May 15, 2001
Keystone Printing shuts down
SAINT JOHN, NB. - PrintCan has learned that Keystone Printing & Lithographing Limited closed its doors earlier this year, due to a lack of demand and consolidation. "The economy in the Maritimes has been intensely competitive. [Most independent printers] have either been bought up or gone out of business," said Keystone manager David Alexander. Quebecor,Transcontinental and Print Atlantic have been active in the region, buying out many of their smaller competitors in recent years, he said. All printing assets are up for sale, and are listed on the company's web site. In business for 40 years, Keystone specialized in commercial high-end printing. "It's a hard thing, but it's progress," Alexander said.

Image Plus and Team On Line announce merger
TORONTO - Image Plus Graphics Limited has signed a written agreement to merge its operations with prepress specialist Team On Line Communications, effective June 1. "We had a tremendous amount of capacity in our prepress facility that we weren't utilizing whatsoever. [This merger] enabled us to bring in a company that will use the facility for what it should be used for," said David Smith, Image Plus president. Image Plus is a full-service commercial prepress and sheetfed printing company, with annual pre-merger sales of $16 million.

May 11, 2001
School fundraiser rescheduled
TORONTO - The Danforth Tech Society has pushed back its Art Show & Sale to June 8-9. It will also be holding a VIP evening on June 7. The event was originally sheduled for May 10-11. As reported earlier on PrintCan, the purpose of the event is to raise money and interest in restarting the graphic arts program at Danforth Tech secondary school.

Gordon Letterpress sells equipment
RICHMOND HILL, ON - Gordon Letterpress Services has sold its presses to Toronto-based liquidator Michaels Sales Inc. Gordon operator Sid Gordon said the business could be shut down as early as this weekend. "My [press operator] left [for another job] two weeks ago. I'd rather sell [the assets] than try and hire someone else," he said. Operating the business alone was not an option he was willing to consider. In business since the early 1990s, Gordon specializes in numbering, perforating, die-cutting, foil-stamping and embossing, and has annual sales of around $300,000. Unless a buyer comes forward, the assets will be auctioned off May 23.

May 8, 2001
PrintNation to relaunch
TOTAWA, NJ. - PrintCan has learned that online printing products supplier PrintNation has been acquired by graphics supply giant Pitman Company. PrintNation is currently expanding its site to include products carried by Pitman, and will re-open by the end of May. Pitman is the largest graphic arts supplier in the U.S. with 20 locations nationwide.

Mr. Zip shuts down
SASKATOON, SK. - Mr. Zip Instant Printing is no longer in operation. It was closed earlier this year after departures by several key employees in 2000. "We lost some key people to competition. The cost became too great to sustain operations," said former president and owner Martin Zip. By December 2000, Mr. Zip's entire six person sales staff had left the company, and could not be replaced in time to save the business. For 27 years, Mr. Zip specialized in short-run, quick-turnaround printing of letterheads, memo pads and manuals.

May 04, 2001
Quebecor eyes new acquisitions
MONTREAL- Quebecor World is examining about 15 potential acquisitions throughout North (including Canada) and South America as well as Europe. "We're looking in all regions where we have existing operations," said Tony Ross, director of communications for Quebecor. The company is currently in talks with French magazine publisher Hachette Filipacchi Medias to acquire its printing assets. The assets being discussed are worth slightly less than US$100 million.

Domtar to buy 4 paper mills from Georgia-Pacific
MONTREAL - Domtar Inc. entered into an agreement on Monday to buy four U.S.-based paper mills from Georgia-Pacific Corp. Domtar is Canada's largest producer of specialty and fine papers, with annual sales of roughly $4 billion. The four mills, located in Arkansas, Wisconsin and Maine, employ roughly 3,200 people. The acquisition is part of Domtar's strategy to expand its North American business in fine paper, especially in the U.S. Most of Domtar's mills are in Canada. Georgia-Pacific is one of the largest global producers of tissue, pulp, paper and building products. It has annual sales of about US$27 billion and employs 85,000 people in North America and Europe.