Quebecor Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Quebecor Inc.



612 Rue St. Jacques
Montréal, Quebec H3C 4M8
Canada

History of Quebecor Inc.

Quebecor Inc. is a vertically integrated company specializing in publishing and distribution, printing, and forest products. The publishing and distribution arm, Quebecor Group Inc., produces daily and weekly newspapers, as well as magazines, books, and print advertisements. It is Quebec's largest publishing firm and largest magazine and newspaper distributor. Quebecor Group also distributes books, musical recordings, and photographic equipment. The company's printing division, Quebecor Printing Inc., is the largest diversified commercial printing concern in Canada and the second largest in the United States and North America. Quebecor Printing also has holdings in France and Mexico. Subsidiaries of Quebecor Printing make advertising insets and circulars, catalogues, telephone directories, magazines, books, checks, money, and passports. Quebecor Printing customers include Bloomingdale's, L.L. Bean, Radio Shack, Sears, and the magazines People, Sports Illustrated, Time, and TV Guide. Donohue Inc., Quebecor's forestry products subsidiary, manages forest tracts, operates mills, and produces newsprint, pulp and lumber.

Pierre PĂ©ladeau, Quebecor's founder, president, and chief executive officer, bought his first newspaper in 1950 when he was 25 years old. His father had been successful in business, but lost his fortune by the time of his death when his son was only ten. His mother managed to send PĂ©ladeau to an exclusive school and he continued his education at elite universities. At an early age, PĂ©ladeau decided he would control his own financial destiny. "I always created my own jobs," PĂ©ladeau told Forbes. A graduate of McGill University with a degree in law and of the University of Montreal with a Master's degree in Philosophy, PĂ©ladeau borrowed C$1,500 from his mother to buy the ailing weekly Le Journal de Rosemont, and worked hard to make the paper a success. In 1953 PĂ©ladeau bought his first printing press. More dailies and printing presses followed, until PĂ©ladeau had built the beginnings of his empire.

A 1964 strike at Quebec's leading French language daily, La Presse, gave Péladeau a big opportunity. In La Presse's absence, Péladeau launched his own daily, Le Journal de Montréal. The tabloid, which featured graphic pictures of crime scenes, heavy sports coverage, pin-up girl photos, and no editorials, met with immediate success. La Presse's return to the stands seven months later slowed but did not halt that success. In fact, circulation rose during the following years until Le Journal became Quebec and North America's leading French language daily in the late 1970s, a status it maintained into the 1990s.

After an entrepreneurial beginning and incorporation in 1965, Quebecor Inc. pursued a decades long course of acquisition and expansion that aimed to consolidate the company's leading position in the fields of publishing and printing in Canada and the United States. Since 1965, over 100 subsidiaries have been added to the Quebecor empire. The location and business activity of Quebecor's subsidiary purchases indicates the success of the company's stated strategic objective: "[To] Broaden its reach across North America and overseas; to acquire additional product market share and diversity; to target and acquire underperforming assets that are geographically well situated and improve their performance; and to achieve a size that maximizes the benefits of economies of scale."

In 1967, PĂ©ladeau founded Le Journal de Quebec, and later added an entertainment magazine and The Winnipeg Sun to his newspaper holdings. Labor lawyer Brian Mulroney, eventually to become Canada's prime minister, worked out Le Journal's first labor agreement. PĂ©ladeau's generous dealings with labor cemented his positive reputation with the public. In 1972, PĂ©ladeau offered shares in Quebecor.

In 1977, PĂ©ladeau gambled in the U.S. newspaper market by launching the Philadelphia Journal. But this venture turned out to be one of PĂ©ladeau's few misjudgments of the market and the competition. He thought the extensive sports coverage and tabloid format used in Le Journal would be a big hit in Philadelphia. Yet the paper's competition simply increased its sports coverage and cut advertising rates to squeeze PĂ©ladeau out of the market. Five years later, at a loss of US$14 million, the paper closed its doors.

In the next several years, PĂ©ladeau undertook a more aggressive campaign to establish a presence in the U.S. market and to take the number one position in Canada. He saw that technology and economies of scale were becoming increasingly important to success in the printing and publishing industries due to changes in technology and a more competitive world economy. His strong customer orientation and grasp of client needs, both in business-to-business and consumer markets, were great assets in the strategic expansion of Quebecor. Quebecor invested in emerging technologies, allowing retailers and advertisers to regionalize product offerings and prices. Bar code technology allowed the creation of large databases from which computers could determine demographic buying patterns, making it possible to tailor publications to specific regions, neighborhoods, or even individuals. These technologies required specialized capabilities such as special binding techniques to allow customized compilation of pages destined for different markets.

PĂ©ladeau and British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell teamed up in 1987 to form Mircor Inc., a joint subsidiary created to purchase--for C$320 million--a 54 percent stake in Donohue Inc., a leading forest products company in Quebec. Quebecor took a 51 percent share of the newly-formed Mircor. The Donohue acquisition gave Quebecor its status as one of the most vertically integrated communications companies in the world, for it allowed the company to do everything from cutting the tree to distributing the printed product. Donohue supplied paper for Quebecor's journals and magazines and for direct mail advertising for its retail clients.



In 1988, Quebecor bought almost all of the printing assets of BCE Inc., the owner of Bell Canada, for C$161 million and a 21 percent share of Quebecor capital stock. The acquisition expanded Quebecor's printing capabilities and brought in lucrative contracts for printing telephone directories, currency, and passports. This acquisition made Quebecor first in printing in Canada and gave the company significant economies of scale, positioning it well for success in the increasingly competitive and technology-driven industry.

In 1990, Quebecor bought Maxwell Communication Corp.'s 14 U.S. printing operations, forming the basis of Quebecor Printing. The US$510 million deal included a non-competition agreement and the purchase by Maxwell of a 25.8 percent interest in Quebecor Printing for US$100 million. According to Michael Crawford in Canadian Business, the purchase gave Quebecor access to a C$744 million customer list and rotogravure presses tailored to U.S. advertisers and catalogue companies. Only a year later, Robert Maxwell's death revealed his holdings to be in a financial mess. Quebecor bought back its shares from Maxwell for US$94.8 million dollars, US$5.2 million less than Maxwell had paid for it, giving Quebecor 100 percent ownership of Quebecor Printing.

Quebecor was not immune from the recession in the early 1990s. Plummeting newsprint prices in 1991 created heavy losses at Donohue, substantially eating into Quebecor's revenues. Advertising was down as well, putting pressure on the publishing and printing segments. In anticipation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Quebecor established a foothold in Mexico by buying Mexican printer Graficas Monte Alban S.A. The move was another step forward in Quebecor's determination to become a truly North American company and gave Quebecor a presence in all three North American countries. Graficas prints books for Mexican and South American publishers. With about 200 employees and annual sales of US$4.5 million, Graficas was not a large acquisition. Nevertheless, it provided a starting point from which to learn the Mexican market and expand holdings in the fast growing market of 80 million people.

Quebecor expanded further in 1992 as it made large investments in its printing facilities and took Quebecor Printing Inc. public with an initial public offering that left the parent company with a 67.57 percent share of its printing subsidiary. Proceeds from the offering were used to reduce bank debt. In the same year, Quebecor won two lucrative five year contracts to print and bind Canadian telephone directories. The value of the contracts over five years was estimated at a combined total of C$505 million.

In 1992 and 1993, Quebecor Printing acquired Arcata Graphics, San Jose, and three major Arcata Corporation printing plants, bringing in clients such as Reader's Digest, Parade, and TV Guide. The acquisition of these plants substantially expanded Quebecor's market share and capacity in producing catalogues, magazines, and books. Advanced web offset publication, special binding, ink jet printing, and shorter run production capabilities were some of the technologies enhanced by the purchase. In 1994, Quebecor completed its buyout of Arcata when it exercised its option to buy the company's outstanding shares. The final acquisition added five book manufacturing plants and a distribution facility to Quebecor, making the company the second largest book fabricator in the United States.

The strategic importance of Quebecor's expansion of its printing operations and move into the United States market was apparent from financial figures. By the end of 1993, U.S. sales represented more than 73 percent of Quebecor Printing's revenues and 64 percent of Quebecor Inc.'s revenues.

Quebecor's launch of Le Magazine Provigo with Provigo supermarkets in early 1993 was another example of Quebecor management's insight into consumer trends and changing markets. Four years before the magazine was introduced, Quebecor had approached the supermarket chain with the idea of differentiating itself from competitors by producing a monthly magazine on nutrition and health, with bits about local sports and entertainment celebrities. Quebecor hoped the magazine would join its information and distribution networks with Provigo's large target market to produce an effective advertising vehicle. Though Provigo wasn't ready to make the investment at the time, increased competition increased and narrowing profit margins in the retail grocery business eventually compelled Provigo to embrace the more upscale image offered by the magazine.

Quebecor Printing continued its international expansion with purchases and contracts in France, India, and Lebanon. Quebecor chose France because it is strategically situated to serve the European market, the world's second largest market for printed products after the United States. In 1993, Quebecor acquired 70 percent of the shares of commercial printer Groupe FĂ©comme for about US$12 million. The concern was renamed Imprimeries FĂ©comme-Quebecor S.A. The operation included three printing plants that made magazine covers, advertising inserts and circulars, and direct mail. Quebecor signed a letter of intent a few months after the FĂ©comme purchase to buy 49 percent of the shares of Groupe Jean Didier, the largest printer in France, for US$27.6 million. The deal was completed in early 1995. The company produced magazines, catalogues, and inserts. With the two acquisitions, Quebecor established a significant foothold in Europe.

A partnership was formed in 1993 with Tej Bandhu Group in India to construct a printing plant, called Tej Quebecor Printing Ltd., for printing the majority of telephone directories in India. With a population of 850 million, the establishment of a subsidiary in India provided great potential for future expansion. In 1994, Quebecor was awarded a contract to produce bank notes for the central bank of Lebanon. The job specifies at least 29 million large denomination pound notes. The new issue is the first time Lebanon has printed its currency outside of England since its independence in 1943.

On the domestic front, 1994 saw the loss of one of Quebecor's major contracts, the printing of the U.S. edition of Reader's Digest, the largest paid monthly circulation magazine in the United States. Quebecor lost the US$20 million-a-year, ten-year contract to its major U.S.-based competitor, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. Donnelley was the largest commercial printer in North America and the world, with three times the revenues of Quebecor Printing. The contract was apparently awarded to Donnelley because of the company's technological capabilities in targeting advertising to specific subscriber groups. Another factor in the loss of the contract may have been the refusal of some unionized workers at Quebecor Printing of Buffalo Inc., where the magazine was printed, to accept a ten year no-strike/no-lockout amendment to the contract. Quebecor planned to make up the lost volume with growth in book printing.

While Quebecor appeared to be well positioned strategically and financially to meet the changing demands of its industries going into the twenty-first century, several management and business issues will have to be handled carefully to ensure future success. The ever-increasing competition and costly technological changes in Quebecor's main business sector will continue to present strategic challenges. The other main issue facing the company was the succession of founder Pierre Péladeau, whose flamboyant entrepreneurial style was an integral part of the company's development. Péladeau, 70 years old in 1995, planned to relinquish his position as president and CEO and take the slot of chairman of the board of directors "soon," though he had not specified what soon means. Two sons, Pierre Karl and Érik, held executive positions in the company and were considered likely candidates for the top slot.

Principal Subsidiaries: Donohue Inc. (63.6%); Quebecor Printing Inc. (75.4%); Imprimeries FĂ©comme-Quebecor SA (70%; France); Quebecor Printing (USA) Corp.; Tej Quebecor Printing Ltd. (40%; India).

Additional Details

Further Reference

Bomberger, Paul, "Donnelley Planning Big Expansion Here," Intelligencer Journal, September 15, 1994, p. A1."Business Brief--Quebecor Inc.: Mexican Printer Is Acquired by a Unit of the Company," Wall Street Journal, January 7, 1992, p. 2.Coles, Alex, "Quebecor Inc.--Sanford Evans Communications Ltd. Restructures Its Direct List Brokerage Services," Business Wire, February 22, 1993.Crawford, Michael, "Prey for the Paper Tiger," Canadian Business, November 1993, p. 22.Dougherty, Kevin, "The Powerful World of the PĂ©ladeaus," Financial Post, March 21, 1992, p. 2S16.Dunn, Brian, "Provigo and Quebecor Launch Magazine for Grocery Shoppers," Montreal Gazette, March 1, 1993, p. C15.Gray, Alan, "Quebecor Makes Paper, Prints on It and Distributes the Published Product," Montreal Gazette, March 22, 1993, p. F8.McIntosh, Andrew, "Pierre PĂ©ladeau to quit Quebecor--Next Year," Monteal Gazette, April 29, 1994, p. 1.Palmeri, Christopher, "Nietzsche's Out God's In," Forbes, December 10, 1990, pp. 40-41."Quebecor Earnings Fell 89 Percent in Quarter, Revenue Declined 9 Percent," Wall Street Journal, February 13, 1992."Quebecor Finalizes Arcata Deal," Graphic Arts Monthly, August 1994, p. 21."Quebecor Printing Gets Contract," Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1992, p. B8."Quebecor Printing Gets 5-Year Contract to Print Directories," Wall Street Journal, July 6, 1992, p. 27."Quebecor Unit Acquires Plant," Wall Street Journal, January 23, 1992, p. 4."Quebecor Unit Sets Initial Public Offering of 14 Million Shares," Wall Street Journal, April 13, 1992, p. C11."Reader's Digest Selects Donnelley as Printer for Its U.S. Edition," Wall Street Journal, September 14, 1994, p. A4.Rojo, Oscar, "Canadian High-Tech Firms Heading Overseas," Toronto Star, April 4, 1994, p. F3.

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