Independent publisher buys six South Shore newspapers

A new independent publisher has purchased six South Shore newspapers and their associated online properties from the media division of Montreal-based Transcontinental, the two companies said on Wednesday.

Gravité Média is acquiring five French-languages weekly newspapers — Le Courrier du Sud de Longueuil, Le Brossard Éclair, Le Reflet de Delson, Le Journal SaintFrançois de Valleyfield and Le Soleil de Châteauguay — as well as a monthly, L’information d’Affaires Rive-Sud.

The company is headed by Julie Voyer, who was TC Media’s general manager for the Montérégie region.

The papers have a strong connection with the communities they service and, with the acquisition, they will return to local management, Voyer said.

“I think that local people are in a better position to mange these newspapers,” she said.

The newspapers’ 55 employees will join the new company, along with nine employees from TC Media’s production and finance divisions.

Gravité Média said further jobs will be created on the South Shore. It plans to open a marketing agency aimed at small and medium-sized businesses in the region, which will focus, in part, on digital strategies.

“We’re very close to our local community, very close to our local clients. They already have confidence in these newspapers,” Voyer said.

The company also plans to open a new facility in Candiac where layout and page design for the newspapers will take place.

In April, TC Media placed 93 community newspapers in Quebec and Ontario, along with their associated websites, up for sale. The company made the move just days after selling 27 newspapers in Atlantic Canada.