TC Media acquires Les Éditions Caractère, leader in the supplemental educational publishing market in Québec

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, 3^e 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.

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Katherine Chartrand
Director of Internal and External Communications
TC Media
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