MONTREAL, Feb. 13, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - TC Media is proud to announce that it has acquired the shares of Les Éditions Caractère, the leader in the supplemental educational publishing market in Québec
and publisher of bestsellers in the trade market. Les Éditions Caractère now joins Chenelière Éducation, the leading publisher of French-language educational resources in
America, and Les Éditions Transcontinental, renowned in the market for their general interest titles and essays
for a broad public. This transaction makes TC Media the top player in
Quebec's supplemental educational publishing market, accelerating its
growth in this strategic niche that was already in development within
the company. TC Media thus adds to its educational publishing offering
and enhances its presence in the field of trade publishing.
In addition to Les Éditions Caractère's supplemental collections, which
include bestsellers such as Toute mon année, Les Incollables, Réussir son examen d'admission au secondaire and Plus de 30 tests pour réussir, the publishing house has a significant catalogue of general interest
books. This catalogue is an excellent complement to the titles
published by Les Éditions Transcontinental and is included in the
acquisition.
TC Media is also pleased to announce that with this acquisition it is
regrouping Chenelière Éducation, Les Éditions Caractère, Les Éditions
Transcontinental and its distribution operations under the new Book group, led by Jacques Rochefort.
"Given its expertise and unique network, both in commercial terms and in
editorial content, Les Éditions Caractère is the acknowledged leader in
the supplemental publishing market in Québec, said Jacques Rochefort,
Senior Vice President, Book group of TC Media and President and CEO of Chenelière Éducation. We are
proud to continue the company's operations with the help of its senior
executives, Marc and Alain Laberge, who have more than 25 years of experience in the book industry and will
be bringing their expertise to our team of professionals."
Marc Laberge, head of Les Éditions Caractère, added: "Quality and
respect are values that have always guided and inspired Les Éditions
Caractère and these values are shared by TC Media. It was a natural fit
for our publishing house to join TC Media and grow alongside Chenelière
Éducation and Les Éditions Transcontinental, who stand out not only for
their excellent publications, but also because they are developing an
important digital offering. I am pleased to be turning a new page in
the history of Les Éditions Caractère and I am certain that this
decision will keep us moving forward and win our authors a wider
audience."
The Book group of TC Media
The grouping of TC Media's book publishing and distribution operations
in the new Book group is part of our growth strategy. Each publishing house will continue to
grow and evolve within its own niche. Les Éditions Caractère will
operate as a separate entity within the group. Note that the subsidiary Éditions 400 Coups, held by Les Éditions
Caractère, is excluded from the transaction and remains the ownership
of current shareholders.
In the Book group, the publishing staff of Chenelière Éducation meets the needs of
both teachers and students by publishing innovative top-quality
educational resources. Chenelière Éducation publishes more than 2,500
authors which come from every level of the educational system, from
pre-school to university and including adult education and the
vocational sector. The company also publishes teacher development
books. Chenelière Éducation is a driving force in Canada when it comes
to applying new technologies to education, as it has developed
interactive digital platforms such as Odilon.ca, Webplus.cheneliere.ca and Cheneliere.ca, digital books that can be run on PC, Mac, IWB and iPad platforms, and
websites which complement its educational resources, generating
hundreds of thousands of visitors per month.
These educational resources have now been enhanced by the list of Les
Éditions Caractère, which was founded in 2004 and has, thanks to its
well-known collections, more than two-thirds of the supplemental
educational publishing market in Quebec. Les Éditions Caractère also
publishes books in French on topics such as cooking, health and
personal growth, including famous titles such as: La bible des accords mets et vins, 3e édition, by France De Palma, Les vins du Québec, un hommage aux vignobles d'ici and La Cuccina delle nonne.
Also, the trade books published by Les Éditions Caractère are the
perfect complement to Les Éditions Transcontinental's offering.
Originally focused on business management and personal finance, Les
Éditions Transcontinental has considerably expanded its repertoire in
the past decade by publishing annually nearly 50 titles on personal
growth, career development, the consumer society, health, parenting and
relationships. They also work in collaboration with many TC Media
entities. A number of business publications have indeed been published
under the Les Affaires brand. They have also developed an impressive list of cookbooks with
the staff of Coup de pouce and Canadian Living magazines (while also building on strong relationships with over a
hundred restaurants chefs in Québec). Finally, Les Éditions
Transcontinental launches every year French and English books intended
for hockey fans in cooperation with the team of The Hockey News magazine.
About TC Media
One of Canada's leading providers of media and marketing solutions,
TC Media offers a comprehensive line of products and services and an
integrated approach to activating customers' marketing. TC Media is one
of Canada's largest media groups, reaching 18 million consumers through
its multiplatform offering. The group, which has about 4,500 employees,
owns a number of major consumer and business media brands that are
leveraged across multiple platforms. TC Media is also the leading
provider of local and regional information in Quebec and the Atlantic
provinces through its extensive network of community papers and online
portals. It is co-owner of the Metro weekday daily in Montreal and Halifax. It is also the leading
door-to-door distributor of advertising material in Canada, with
Publisac in Quebec and Targeo in the rest of Canada. TC Media is a
leader in the digital industry in Canada in media properties and online
advertising representation. With its extensive network of more than
1,000 websites, TC Media reaches more than 13 million unique visitors
per month in Canada. The group offers interactive marketing solutions
that harmonize strategy, content and multichannel distribution systems
to build lasting relationships between brands and consumers. TC Media
also employs its expertise and proprietary software to anticipate and
meet consumer needs by the new interactive means of communication:
mobile, data analytics, email marketing, e-flyers and custom content
and communications. TC Media is also active in book publishing and
distribution and is the largest publisher of French-language
educational resources in Canada.
TC Media is a brand of Transcontinental Inc. (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B,
TCL.PR.D), which has about 10,000 employees in Canada and the United
States, and reported revenues of C$2.0 billion in 2011. For more
information about the corporation, please visit www.tc.tc.