Transcontinental appoints Nelson Gentiletti, recent COO of Transat, to CFO, corporate development, effective Dec. 5

Kendall Sinclair

MONTREAL , November 1, 2011 (press release) – Transcontinental Inc. today announced the appointment of Nelson Gentiletti as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development. He will report to the President and Chief Executive Officer, François Olivier, and will be a member of the Executive Management Committee. Mr. Gentiletti will start in his position on December 5, 2011. The duties he assumes will include those of Benoît Huard, who has been Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2006.

Until recently, Nelson Gentiletti was Chief Operating Officer of Transat AT. In addition to taking over the financial management of Transcontinental, he will be responsible for the strategic planning process and innovation, mergers and acquisitions and information technology. As well, in his new position he will ensure that the sound financial management that characterizes Transcontinental continues, based on the strict and highly disciplined approach that has proven so effective. Mr. Gentiletti's mandate will also involve setting up a structure to improve financial and administrative procedures, as well as overseeing the upgrading of information technology function in order to support the Corporation's growth.

"I am very happy to welcome Nelson to our organization," said François Olivier, President and CEO of Transcontinental inc. "His leadership abilities and experience with major corporations make him an ideal choice. Drawing on his recent operational experience, he will make an active contribution to the organization's strategic projects to strengthen our traditional core and new marketing activation activities."

After a number of years as a senior financial executive in companies in the insurance and telecommunications sectors, Mr. Gentiletti became Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Unican Security Systems Ltd. He then joined BCE Emergis as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, before moving to Transat AT in 2002. Mr. Gentiletti is a graduate of Concordia and McGill universities, in Montreal. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, and sits on the Board of Directors of Groupe Sportscene inc. (which operates La Cage aux sports restaurants), KnowledegeOne and St. Mary's Hospital Foundation in Montreal.

For his part, in a mutual decision reached with the Corporation, Benoît Huard will ensure a smooth transition and will leave Transcontinental at the next annual meeting of shareholders in February 2012. "As Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Benoît has been a model of integrity and professionalism, and has made a significant contribution to the growth and development of Transcontinental over the past six years. I'd like to thank him on behalf of all his colleagues," said François Olivier. "He completed several projects to improve the Corporation's administrative and financial efficiencies and set up a financing structure that allowed us to invest more than $700 million in state-of-the-art infrastructures and equipment. I wish Benoît every success in his future professional and personal projects."


About Transcontinental

Transcontinental creates marketing products and services that allow businesses to attract, reach and retain their target customers. The Corporation is the largest printer in Canada and the fourth-largest in North America. As the leading publisher of consumer magazines and French-language educational resources, and of community newspapers in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, it is also one of Canada's top media groups. Transcontinental is also the leading door-to-door distributor of advertising material in Canada through its celebrated Publisac network in Quebec and Targeo in the rest of Canada. Thanks to a wide digital network of more than 1,000 websites, the company reaches over 11.3 million unique visitors per month in Canada. Transcontinental also offers interactive marketing products and services that use new communication platforms supported by marketing strategy and planning services, database analytics, premedia, e-flyers, email marketing, custom communications and mobile solutions.

Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B, TCL.PR.D) has 10,000 employees in Canada and in the United States, and reported revenues of C$2.1 billion in 2010. For more information about the Corporation, please visit www.transcontinental.com

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.