Donnelley Makes Offer for Quebecor
By Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 5/13/2009 9:13:00 AM
The industry’s largest printer, R.R. Donnelley, has sent a letter to Quebecor World saying it would like to buy its bankrupt competitor for about $1.3 billion. Quebecor has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy since last January, although it has filed a plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection. Quebecor said it is studying the proposal.
In the letter, Donnelley revealed that it had first expressed interest in buying Quebecor assets back in August, but had never heard back from the company. With the bankruptcy proceedings nearing an end, Donnelley said it has reviewed Quebecor’s reorganization plan, and believes its offer is better for the company’s debtors and creditors than the reorganization proposal. Under Donnelley’s non-binding offer, the printer will pay about $700 million in cash, plus 30 million Donnelley shares and cash in hand for a total of about $1.3 billion.
In a statement, Quebecor’s board acknowledged receiving the proposal and said, along with its financial and legal advisors, “will be discussing it with its major stakeholders.” Quebecor said it will go ahead with court hearings set for May 14 in Canada and May 15 in the U.S. to discuss its reorganization plan.
