Transcontinental sells building to San Francisco Chronicle publisher Hearst
Proceeds to be used to reduce the Transcontinental's indebtedness
MONTREAL – TC Transcontinental has agreed to sell the building that housed its former printing operations in Fremont, Calif., for US$75 million, with proceeds to be used to reduce the company’s indebtedness.
The buyer is Hearst Corp., which took over printing operations at the plant in April 2018 as the two companies dissolved a multi-year outsourcing agreement in which Transcontinental printed the San Francisco Chronicle for the media company.
TC Transcontinental began printing the Chronicle starting in 2009 under an agreement that was to run for 15 years.
However, the companies amended the agreement in 2012 to reflect a decline in print newspaper circulation and Transcontinental received US$200 million in compensation from Hearst.
In 2017, Hearst decided to bring printing of the Chronicle in-house as of April 2018.
Transcontinental says the pending sale of the building to Hearst is expected to close in the fourth quarter of its 2019 financial year.
The Montreal-based company releases results for its third quarter on Thursday.
