Postmedia buys Sun Media for $316M

[Locutus]

via sda

Contraction of the market.


This will do nothing to relieve the left of their fear of corporate media.

Quebecor today announced the sale of its English-language operations, consisting of 175 publications including the Sun chain of dailies, its community dailies and weeklies, its Canoe portal in English Canada and its Islington printing plant, to Postmedia Network Canada.​

After TorStars abortive Metro experiment, I'm beginning to think that newspapers might be a declining market.


Contraction of the market. - Small Dead Animals


Quebecor today announced the sale of its English-language operations, consisting of 175 publications including the Sun chain of dailies, its community dailies and weeklies, its Canoe portal in English Canada and its Islington printing plant, to Postmedia Network Canada.

The $316-million transaction is subject to approval by the Competition Bureau. While it is under review, Sun Media Corporation will continue managing the assets and publications in question.

The deal does not include Sun News Network which will remain with Quebecor Media.

“Consumers now have many ways to get their news, and as a result the newspaper business has faced increasing competition from digital media and new technological platforms. Newspaper revenues have been declining year by year,” said Pierre Dion, president and CEO of Quebecor and Quebecor Media.

Dion said the deal comes at a time when the Canadian newspaper business needs consolidation to remain viable.

“The transaction will also keep Sun Media Corporation’s properties in the hands of a well-established Canadian group,” Dion added. “Postmedia possesses extensive expertise and the ability and will to invest in these publications’ long-term development. This is good news for the Canadian newspaper business and the people who work in it.”

“I want to thank all the employees who have devoted their talents and energies every day to informing their community,” said Julie Tremblay, president and CEO of Sun Media Corporation.

“Sun Media Corporation’s success has been built on their passion and dedication, year after year. Postmedia will be able to count on teams that demonstrate the ability to innovate in a fast-changing industry.”


Postmedia buys Sun Media for $316M | Canada | News | Winnipeg Sun

 

[mentalfloss]

Shocking.

I am shocked.

 

[CDNBear]

Shocked you say?

 

[mentalfloss]

If Postmedia are the same guys that own the right leaning 'National Post' then yes, I am shocked.

Wonder how this impacts QMI..

 

[petros]

After TorStars abortive Metro experiment, I'm beginning to think that newspapers might be a declining market

They killed the Metro? I knew I should have stolen the box at the library to make into a smoker. Dammit.

 

[tay]

According to Ottawa-based Frank, plans are in motion to merge the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun and the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun into a single newspaper in each city, the financially troubled Toronto-based media conglomerate will do the same thing with the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. Frank said only that the source of its terse 46-word report is reliable. Postmedia Network Canada Corp. lost $263.4 million last year.

At that time, Postmedia promised that both Postmedia and Sun newspapers would continue to operate independently of one another in markets where they competed directly before the acquisition. Shareholders were told there would be “synergies,” and that Postmedia expected to find $6 to $10 million in savings, mostly through unidentified shared services.

In early August, Ms. Goodhand confirmed reports that the Sun’s advertising staff would be moved from their east-side location into the Journal building in downtown Edmonton this fall, a move that is now complete. She said at the time the Sun and Journal would have separate newsrooms and maintain “distinct print and digital brands.”

Postmedia President and CEO Paul Godfrey reiterated that pledge in March after the Competition Bureau rubber-stamped the $316-million acquisition of Sun daily newspapers in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg and Ottawa, as well as about 170 additional digital and print publications previously owned by Quebecor Inc.

Sure, there would be some “synergies.” Indeed, Postmedia indicated in October it expected to find $6 to $10 million in savings, mostly through unidentified shared services. But Postmedia tried hard to give the impression all would be well as the 2,400 Sun Media employees joined their 2,800 counterparts at Postmedia.

Whether or not the acquisition will eventually result in the intended business success, it certainly concentrated English Canada’s major print media operations in a few hands. After the dust settled, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the Winnipeg Free Press were the only major English-language newspapers in Canada not controlled by Postmedia.

 

[mentalfloss]

They're going to amalgamate in Ezra's mom's basement.