Transcon buys Redwood Custom Communications

[This post has been updated] Montreal-based Transcontinental Inc. has acquired Canada's largest custom publisher, Toronto-based Redwood Custom Communications.

François Olivier, president and cIhief executive officer at Transcontinental, says his company's main goal is to aid customers in reaching and retaining their target audiences, and that Redwood is at the frontier between traditional publishing and direct marketing. Since Transcon was in custom publishing already, the deal moves the company into a dominant position virtually overnight. It's not clear what the deal means to the joint venture deal that Transcon made with British custom publishing firm Seven Squared in August 2007 to create Transcontinental Custom Communications.

Transcon is one of Canada's leading printers and the largest consumer magazine publisher. Among Redwood's clients are Aeroplan, Canadian Automobile Association, Home Depot, Mazda, Procter & Gamble, Sears and Sobey's. Redwood's 130 employees will continue to be led by Eric Schneider, Chief Executive Officer, who retains an undisclosed 25% equity stake.The company has offices in Toronto and New York.

"By partnering with Transcontinental, Redwood Custom Communications has the opportunity to grow its relationship marketing business and deliver incremental value to its clients," said Eric Schneider in a release. "Our team is thrilled about the opportunities ahead of us."

[UPDATE: Some excellent follow-up reporting by Marco Ursi at Masthead adds texture to the story, including the fact that essentially the Redwood brand will eventually disappear under the Transcontinental brand and that Transcon, predictably, will gradually take over all of the printing of Redwood custom pubs that has heretofore been done by competitors like Quebecor and St. Joseph.]