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.

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. 
Publisac 1986
1987
  • Transcontinental acquires Interglobe Printing (now Transcontinental Beauceville), 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.
Acquisition Interglobe 1987
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.
Mercuriades 1988
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. 
Calgary TC West 1989
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.