1986 to 1995

Acquisitions and expansion – 1986-1995

Transcontinental embarks on its expansion across Canada thus leading to a strong period of internal growth coupled with an acquisition-based strategy.

Plants that remain part of our printing and packaging network are specified in the text. (As of January 4^th, 2018).

1986

A big year for Transcontinental marked by the launch of the renowned Ad-Bag/Publi-Sac and Ad-Stand, products that revolutionize the flyer distribution business.
Transcontinental enters the United States market with the acquisition of Miami Valley Publishing Company in Dayton, Ohio, and Trans-Continental Printing South in Orlando, Florida, both specialized in flyer printing.
The Publishing Sector marks its first expansion outside Québec with the acquisition of The Hockey News newspaper.

1987

Transcontinental acquires Interglobe Printing (now Transcontinental Interglobe), a plant in Beauceville, Québec, printing magazines, educational textbooks and institutional documents.
Transcontinental reaches the Pacific coast with the acquisition of Valleyweb Graphics in Langley, British Columbia, a flyer printing plant.

1988

Launch of Éditions Transcontinental, the book publishing division.
Transcontinental acquires PME magazine and Publications spécialisées en construction G.R., which will later become Groupe Constructo. It also buys a majority stake in Éditions du Feu Vert, which publishes Décormag and Le Bel Âge.
Transcontinental receives the Mercure for Business of the Year, SMB, an annual award presented by the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec.

1989

Transcontinental acquires two printing plants from Southam's Canadian Publishers, one in Calgary, Alberta and one in Winnipeg, Manitoba. These plants join a growing network of flyer printing plants. The two Calgary plants will later be merged to form today’s Transcontinental Calgary.
Acquisition of a third printing plant in the United States: NCP Incorporated in Seattle, Washington.
The Publishing Sector continues its expansion outside Québec with the launch of Good Times magazine, the English-language counterpart of Bel Âge. Both titles are published in partnership with the European publishing house Bayard Presse.

1990

Transcontinental becomes the largest flyer printer in Canada, and the Québec leader in business and finance publishing and door-to-door distribution.
With the acquisition of the printing company Noir Plus, in Montréal, Transcontinental moves into the commercial sheetfed printing market.

1992

Transcontinental becomes Canada's largest commercial printer with the acquisition of Southam's commercial printing division, up to then the biggest transaction in the company's 16-year history. Four plants are thus added to the printing sector: RBW Graphics, in Owen Sound (now Transcontinental RBW Graphics), the two Litho-Prestige plants in Candiac and Drummondville, and Agency Press in Vancouver.

1993

The company diversifies its operations again with the acquisition of a majority stake in Americ Disc, which will go on to become the world's biggest independent CD manufacturer. (Transcontinental divested its stake in 2001).
Transcontinental continues its expansion into commercial printing with the acquisition of the two Litho Acme printing plants in Montréal and Québec City.
Transcontinental adopts its first Environmental Policy based on three guiding principles: protect the environment for present and future generations, reduce risks and improve efficiencies, and introduce improved technology and processes.

1994

Opening of the new Vancouver plant (now Transcontinental Vancouver) bringing together under one roof the assets of the Valleyweb Graphics plant and some assets from Agency Press.

1995

Transcontinental accelerates the pace of acquisitions. The company becomes a player in the Québec local and regional newspaper market with the acquisition of 20 Telemedia weeklies published in the Greater Montréal area.
Printing operations are enhanced with the acquisition of Yorkville Printing and the Bergman Graphics (now Transcontinental Premedia) prepress studio in Ontario, as well as Ross-Ellis Printing (now Transcontinental Ross-Ellis), Métropole Litho and Métrolitho in Québec.