Transcon a family business once again

With the ascendancy today of François Olivier (right) today officially became president and chief executive officer (replacing Luc Desjardins), Transcontinental Inc. is once again a family business. Olivier is founder and chairman Rémi Marcoux's son-in-law, most recently Chief Operating Officer.

Marcoux praised Desjardins' contributions, although there was some surprise in the industry when it was unexpectedly announced last fall that he would be leaving after four years in the job. Olivier, who had been with the company 15 years, was selected to replace him after what Transcontinental referred to as "a rigorous selection process".

Not surprisingly, Marcoux lavished praise on the new CEO: "François has an impressive track record with Transcontinental. He is an entrepreneur and innovator who puts growth front and centre and he has excellent credibility throughout the organization. Because we have a strong management team, we were able to identify an internal successor, in this instance a member of my family, which guarantees the continuity and stability that are so crucial in today's economy."

Transcontinental is Canada's largest producer of consumer magazines, its largest printer and just last week announced that it had won the contract away from Quebecor to print all of Rogers Publishing's consumer and trade titles.