AF&PA Comments on Renewable Tax Credits

http://www.afandpa.org/pressreleases.aspx?id=2416

American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman released a statement today in response to the proposed retroactive repeal of the renewable fuel tax credits.

Ziff Davis Enterprise Sold to Lead-Gen Company QuinStreet

Ziff Davis Enterprise Sold to Lead-Gen Company QuinStreet: Ziff Davis Enterprise, one-half of what remains of one of the most storied companies in the history of publishing, was sold Friday to QuinStreet, a publicly-traded lead-generation marketing company based in Foster City, California.

USPS Tops Postal Services Worldwide

USPS Tops Ranking of Postal Services Worldwide: A review of the performance of universal postal service providers ranks the U.S.P.S. as the best postal service within the world’s top 20 largest economies for access to services, resource efficiency and public trust.

Amazon & States Sales Tax Fight Continues

Amazon billed by Arizona for $53 million in sales taxes: Amazon claims that the state of Arizona has served the online company a tax bill for $53 million for uncollected sales tax.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2012/jan/28/amazon-tax-bills-come-due/

If you’ve been following the online sales tax saga then you probably know that Amazon has done all they  could to avoid collecting taxes. They’ve even gone so far as to cut off affiliates in CO, CT, IL.

Marubeni Reports Strong Third Quarter

 http://www.marubeni.com/ir/index.html

Marubeni Corp. has announced FY 2011 third quarter revenue of $12.7 billion, up 18% as compared to the same period last year.  Net income rose sharply, up 32% to $484 million and the operating profit jumped 26%.  The company is anticipating that net income for the whole of FY 2011, which ends on March 31, 2012, will increase by 25% over FY 2010.

Domtar Releases Q4 Financials

Domtar reports net quarterly earnings of $61 million:

Domtar Corporation has posted net earnings of $61 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

For the 2011 fiscal year, Domtar’s net earnings amounted to $365 million compared to net earnings of $605 million in 2010.

NewPage Port Hawkesbury Workers Sue

NewPage Port Hawkesbury workers sue company for $168 million in unpaid severance, pensions, and benefits:

The workers of the idled NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill in Nova Scotia have filed a lawsuit for $168 million against the company. The employees, represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (Local 972) are owed severance, pensions, and other benefits.

Fibrek Expects 3rd Party Bids

Fibrek expects to receive 3rd party proposals today:
Fibrek Inc. announced today that a proposal has emerged from its strategic alternatives review process, which was initiated by Fibrek’s Board following the unsolicited insider bid made by AbitibiBowater Inc. (carrying on business as Resolute Forest Products) on December 15, 2011.

Dow Jones & Co. Names CEO

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120203/MEDIABUSINESS06/120209994/news-corp-taps-fenwick-as-ceo-of-dow-jones-co?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editorial&utm_campaign=dailyclickthroughs

News Corp. today named Lex Fenwick CEO of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Fenwick joins Dow Jones from Bloomberg, where he spent 25 years, most recently as CEO of Bloomberg Ventures.

Time Names Europe Editor

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/time-names-new-europe-editor_b52549

Time has promoted Catherine Mayer to the role of Europe Editor. Mayer joined Time in 2004 and has been the magazine’s London Bureau Chief since 2006.

55 New Magazines Debut in January

http://launchmonitor.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/55-new-titles-debut-in-january-2012-the-mr-magazine-launch-monitor/

The Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor was able to identify (and buy) 55 new publications arriving on the market place for the first time during the month of January. Ten of the new magazines were published with an intention to appear at least 4 times a year (quarterly). Reality Weekly, as the name obviously shows, is published weekly.

Publishers Looking for Answers to USPS Plight

Publishers Seek Solutions as USPS Nears Brink: The United States Postal Service is teetering at the edge of collapse, and magazine publishers, for whom the health of the postal service is of critical importance, are looking for answers.

Xerox Global Graphic Communications Names President

Xerox and Presstek appoint new presidents: Presstek chief executive Jeff Jacobson will join Xerox later this month as president of its Global Graphics Communications division and be succeeded by Fujifilm's former US chief operating officer Stan Freimuth.

AlphaGraphics Names President

AlphaGraphics Names Art Coley as President: Blackstreet Capital Partners II, an affiliate of a Maryland-based private equity fund, has announced the promotion of AlphaGraphics Inc.’s Art Coley to president of the franchise organization with nearly 300 centers worldwide. This appointment is effective immediately and follows the departure of Kevin Cushing as CEO of the company.

International Paper Reports Q4 and 2011 Results

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/02_02_2012international_paper_earnings.html
International Paper reported preliminary full-year 2011 net earnings attributable to common shareholders totaling $1.3 billion compared with $644 million in full-year 2010. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the company reported net earnings of $257 million compared with $316 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Amounts in all periods include special items.

More layoffs at Kruger's Corner Brook mill

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/02/01/nl-kruger-jobs-201.html

As previously announced, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper started implementing a rightsizing plan as part of its strategy to improve its competitiveness. Throughout the day yesterday, the Company met with union executives to announce the immediate layoff of nine employees, as well as a gradual reduction of 33 additional positions and four vacancies that will not be filled.

Investor Found for manroland’s Sheetfed Division

Langley Group Takes Over manroland’s Sheetfed Division: An investor solution has been found for the sheetfed business of manroland AG currently in insolvency proceedings.

Hearst, Fleishman-Hillard Publish Ad Study

Women Most Notice Price, Quality Info in Advertising: The top elements of advertising that make women "take notice" are an easily found price (45%) and proof or details of quality (43%) followed by relevant messaging (39%) and ads that are easy to remember (28%) according to a study conducted by integrated marketing and communications firm Fleishman-Hillard in partnership with Hearst Magazines.
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USPS Proposes Barcode Discount

 http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120202/DIRECT0202/302029994/usps-to-again-offer-qr-code-discount-offer&template=printart
Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Postal Service, which has been aggressively courting commercial mailers with a variety of promotions, will reprise its 2D barcode promotion first launched last summer.

GMG Names Marketing Director

Ikea's Farkas joins GMG to head up marketing: GMG has appointed Michael Farkas as marketing director after nearly a decade masterminding the production workflow behind the Ikea catalogue.

Marubeni Recognized as Sustainability Leader

http://www.marubeni.com/csr_env/topics/006217.html

As in the previous year, Marubeni Corporation has been awarded the SAM Sector Leader in the Support Services, the sector to which Marubeni Corporation belongs, by SAM, a global CSR research and rating company that analyzes candidate companies for inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), an index of companies leading in the field of socially responsible investment (SRI). The SAM Sector Leader is awarded to the company with the highest sustainability performance in each industry sector. 

In addition, in the rating of the overall sustainability performance, Marubeni Corporation has been awarded the top "SAM Gold Class," which is higher than the SAM Silver Class awarded to Marubeni in the previous fiscal year, and has been included in SAM’s “The Sustainability Yearbook 2010” as a leader in sustainability.

No Word on Sale of St. Mary's

http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3455825

The sale of bankrupt St. Marys Paper Corp., underway for two weeks, has quietly entered the second phase of a quick-moving process.

Letters of intent from prospective bidders, according to sales protocol, were to have been filed with the court-appointed receiver, Ernst & Young, late Monday afternoon and upon review applicants advancing into the next phase of the process were to have been notified Tuesday.

UPM to Build EUR 85 Million CHP Plant at Schongau

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/02_01_2012upm_chp_germany.html
UPM said that it plans to invest EUR 85 million to build a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant at its Schongau mill in Germany.
The new power plant will generate process heat as well as electricity for the mill, while also providing sustainable and energy efficient district heating for roughly 750 households and public institutions such as local school and hospital in Schongau.

UPM Reports Fourth Quarter Results

http://www.upm.com/en/Pages/default.aspx

Sales for the fourth quarter of 2011 were EUR 2,686 million, 14% higher than the EUR 2,357 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Sales increased mainly due to the inclusion of the acquired Myllykoski Corporation and Rhein Papier GmbH, as of 1 August 2011. In addition, sales prices increased, particularly in Paper.

EBITDA decreased to EUR 301 million, 11.2% of sales, from EUR 318 million, 13.5% of sales in the same period last year.

Operating profit was EUR 131 million, 4.9% of sales (207 million, 8.8% of sales). Operating profit includes net charges of EUR 16 million as special items, mainly related to restructuring measures in Paper.

The operating profit excluding special items was EUR 147 million, 5.5% of sales (212 million, 9.0% of sales).

UPM Sells Packaging Production to Billerud

UPM sells its packaging paper assets to the Swedish Billerud: UPM sells its packaging paper production to the Swedish packaging paper company Billerud. The transaction includes two packaging paper machines; one in Pietarsaari and one in Tervasaari, Finland. The enterprise value of the transaction is EUR 130 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The target is to close the transaction during the second quarter of 2012.

Catalyst Paper Secures $175 million

Catalyst Paper to receive $175 million in DIP financing from JP Morgan:
JP Morgan is providing Catalyst Paper with up to $175 million in debtor-in possession (DIP) financing to help fund its operations during its period of credit protection, under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).

UPM Plans First Biorefinery for Wood-Based Biodiesel

UPM to build the world's first biorefinery producing wood-based biodiesel: UPM is to invest in a biorefinery producing biofuels from crude tall oil in Lappeenranta, Finland. The industrial scale investment is the first of its kind globally. The biorefinery will produce annually approximately 100,000 tonnes of advanced second generation biodiesel for transport. Construction of the biorefinery will begin in the summer of 2012 at UPM’s Kaukas mill site and be completed in 2014. UPM’s total investment will amount to approximately EUR 150 million.

Publish Post

Neenah Completes Purchase of Premium Brands from Wausau Paper

Neenah Completes Purchase of Premium Brands from Wausau Paper: Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP) announced today completion of the previously announced purchase of certain premium paper brands and other assets from Wausau Paper Corp.

Hearst and Condé Nast Sell Comag

Exclusive: Hearst and Condé Nast Sell Comag to Jim Pattison Group: Comag Marketing Group, the Princeton, New Jersey-based national magazine distributor jointly owned by Hearst and Condé Nast, has been sold to the Jim Pattison Group. The deal signals the exit of the two publishers from the magazine distribution business and is being positioned as an effort to heal a newsstand supply chain that's long been fraught with competing interests and inefficiencies.

FOLIO Names Editor

FOLIO:, EXPO Magazines Tap Top Editors: Red 7 Media, a division of Access Intelligence, announces two changes to its editorial roster, effective immediately. Bill Mickey, who previously served as executive editor of EXPO Magazine, returns to FOLIO Magazine as editor.

Time Inc. Closing MAGHOUND

Time Inc.’s MAGHOUND Shuttering: Time Inc.’s print magazine venture MAGHOUND is closing. The service debuted in 2008, and is expected to fold early this year. Dubbed the “Netflix of the magazine industry” in the press, MAGHOUND hawked multiple titles for a discount price, without the commitment of a subscription.

PRC Will Not Expedite Decision

U.S. Regulators Refuse to Speed Up Review of USPS Network Cutbacks: The (Postal Regulatory) Commission said in a decision issued yesterday that its current schedule was “slightly more than one month longer” than a schedule that had been suggested by USPS than a schedule that had been suggested by USPS, and that no new information had been provided by USPS to persuade Commissioners that the change in schedule was warranted.

Xerox Global Names President

Jeffrey Jacobson Named Head of Xerox Global Graphic Communications: Xerox Corp. announced the appointment of Jeffrey Jacobson as president, Xerox Global Graphic Communications. Jacobson, 52, joins Xerox from Presstek where he served as the company’s president and CEO since 2007, adding the title of chairman in 2009.

Quad/Graphics Acquires Williamson Printing

Quad/Graphics Acquires Dallas-Based Williamson Printing: SUSSEX, WI—Feb. 1, 2012—Quad/Graphics Inc. has purchased Williamson Printing, a full-service commercial and specialty products printer specializing in short- to medium-runcatalogs, case-bound books, direct mail and other promotional products.

Indexx Buys Crowson Stone Printing

Indexx Purchases Assets of Crowson Stone Printing: Indexx, an integrated communications company specializing in printing, marketing, publishing and fulfillment solutions, is proud to announce an expansion of its services in the Columbia market following an assets purchase of Crowson Stone Printing

Inside Publications Buys Cheer Biz News

Inside Publications Acquires Cheer Biz News: For an unknown amount, Atlanta-based Inside Publications purchased Cheer Biz News and sister titles The Coach’s Handbook and All Star Insider. Moving forward, Cheer Biz will be produced by Inside Publications staff.

Catalyst Paper to File for Creditor Protection

Catalyst Paper to file for creditor protection:

Catalyst Paper Corporation has announced that to facilitate an orderly restructuring of its business and operations, the board of directors of the company has approved a filing for an Initial Order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia to commence proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The terms and conditions of the restructuring plan have not yet been determined by the company.

xpedx Closing Stores Division

xpedx Closing Stores Division: xpedx has announced the closing of the Stores division. The press release read, in part: This year xpedx will realign operations... This means we will transition away from our current stores business model, to servicing many customers from xpedx’s well established distribution network.

Domtar to Sell Closed Mill to Fortress

Domtar enters agreement to sell closed Lebel-sur-Quévillon mill to Fortress for $1:
Domtar Corporation has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Fortress Global Cellulose Ltd, and with a subsidiary of the Government of Québec, for the sale of its Lebel-sur-Quévillon assets. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012.

Penton Names CEO

Penton names Kieselstein CEO: Penton Media, publisher of Registered Rep. and Supermarket News, has named David Kieselstein as CEO. He was previously CEO of TNS North America, a custom research division of WPP.

Manroland Sells Augsburg Plant 2/1

Manroland break-up to begin tomorrow with Augsburg sale: Manroland's administrator has confirmed that the break-up of the German manufacturer will begin tomorrow (1 February) with the sale of the Augsburg web offset facility.

IP, Temple-Inland Extend DOJ Review Period

International Paper, Temple-Inland Extend DOJ Review Period: International Paper Company and Temple-Inland Inc. today announced that they have agreed to extend the U.S. Department of Justice's review period with respect to International Paper's acquisition of Temple-Inland until February 13, 2012.

Resolute Paper Makes Cuts at Fort Frances

Resolute cuts 45 jobs in Fort Frances, Ontario:
Resolute Forest Products (formerly AbitibiBowater), will not be recalling 45 people, 16% of the workforce, to work when they resume paper production next week.

Catalyst Paper Reports Crofton Vote

Catalyst Paper Announces Crofton Unions Voting Results: Catalyst Paper Corporation (TSX: CTL) advised today that at votes taken this weekend, one union local at the Crofton mill voted down a new labour agreement while the other union local voted to support a new labour agreement. Unanimous ratification of a new labour agreement by January 31, 2012 is a condition of the company's recapitalization transaction announced on January 14, 2012.

2011 Media M&A Jumped 9%

Overall Media M&A Up 9 Percent in 2011: The media M&A market saw its third year in a row of growth, closing out 2011 with a 9 percent increase in total value over 2010, according to a year-end report by The Jordan, Edmiston Group.

J.C. Penney and Esquire Close CLAD

Esquire Ecommerce Effort CLAD Folds: After an extremely short run, J.C. Penney’s Esquire-curated ecommerce site, CLAD, shutters. CLAD debuted in November 2011, and its final sale will end January 31.

Bloomberg Launches Bloomberg Pursuits

Bloomberg to Leverage its ‘Markets’ Brand into a Lifestyle Offshoot: Bloomberg has found another way to capitalize on its access to some of the wealthiest consumers in the world: next month, it will launch an offshoot to its Bloomberg Markets magazine. Bloomberg Pursuits will be polybagged with, and run by the team at, Bloomberg Markets, but will hone in on luxury lifestyle content that emerged from the pages of the finance-focused title.

Quarterly Review of Wines Closes

http://www.minonline.com/news/35-Year-Old-Vintage-Wine-Pub-Calls-It-Quits_19824.html  
In the rush of staff changes, higher profile magazine closings at the end of last year, it may have gone unnoticed that a venerable bible for wine enthusiasts closed its beloved cellar. The Quarterly Review of Wines, a 100-page glossy with a circulation of 140,000, had just celebrated 35 years of publication. Nevertheless, publisher Richard L. Elia decided to fold shut down the title.

The Economist Launches China Section

The Economist' introduces China section: London—The Economist has launched a new section covering China. The magazine said it is the magazine's first new section devoted to a single country in 70 years.

Cenveo Sells Group to Ennis

Cenveo Sells Forms and Business Documents Group to Ennis: Cenveo, Inc. today announced that it has agreed to sell its Forms and Business Documents Group to Ennis, Inc., manufacturer of printed business products & apparel headquartered in Midlothian, Texas. The sale is expected to close during February 2012. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

2011 European Coated Mechanical Shipments Reported

http://www.cepiprint.ch/en/home_21.php
EURO-GRAPH, the European Association of Graphic Paper (formed with the joining of CEPIPRINT and CEPIFINE), reported European coated mechanical paper shipments for December fell -13.5% as compared to the same month last year and -0.6% for 2011 as compared to 2010.  Demand for the grade was down -20.3% for the month and -4.7% for the year.  Exports increased +24.9% for December and rose +16.9% for 2011.  European Supercalendered paper shipments declined -6% for December and -1.1% for 2011. SC demand declined -7.8% for the month and -3.5% for the year.  Exports rose +5.2% for December and grew 9.9% for 2011 as compared to 2010.

Fashion Magazines March Ad Pages Up

http://adage.com/print/232362

Most fashion magazines increased ad pages in their important March issues again this year, showing some strength in an uncertain economy.

Vogue's March issue includes 443 ad pages, nearly 4% above the year-ago level, the magazine said today. That's on top of a gain of 50 pages, or 13%, last March, according to Susan Plagemann, Vogue's VP-publisher since January 2010. "That's significant for us," Ms. Plagemann said. "We also beat our five-year average by 4.5%."

Time Now Has All U.S. Titles Available on Tablets

http://talkingnewmedia.blogspot.com/2012/01/time-inc-accomplishes-goal-of-creating.html

“With the availability of our entire portfolio of U.S. titles, we put ourselves in a great position to take advantage of these opportunities," said Mitch Klaif, CIO of Time Inc. "We also use WoodWing's solutions to help us produce our print editions, and WoodWing´s Digital Publishing Solution enables us to integrate our tablet publishing activities into our existing workflows.  Time Inc. yet to come to terms with Apple. All their apps remain outside of Newsstand.

Publishers Make Appointments

http://www.foliomag.com/2012/people-move-1-26-12

Folio names Bill Mickey, former executive editor of EXPO magazine,
as editor. Lee Barney is named executive editor of EXPO. Barney joins
the publication from SourceMedia, where she served as editor of Money
Management Executive.

Hearst Magazines bumps Scherri Roberts from VP to senior vice president of human resources. Also at Hearst, former All You executive editor Susan Spencer joins Woman’s Day as editor-in-chief.

Magnify.net names John Brown as chief business development officer. Brown comes from Time Inc., where he was president of This Old House Ventures.

Ursula Morgan is promoted from vice president of Future Plus to vice president of media at Future US.

At Above the Law, 

Penton Media welcomes Neta Yoffe as director of corporate communications.

AMI's Men's Fitness tapped Michael De Medeiros as editor-in-chief. De Medeiros was previously editor of Maximum Fitness.

Condé Nast Names Chief Execuitve, Mexico & Latin America

http://www.fipp.com/News.aspx?PageIndex=2002&ItemId=16309&id=dRcRbMAF3XU=

Eva Hughes, editor of Vogue Mexico and Latin America, will become director general, the chief executive of Condé Nast Mexico and Latin America on February 1. She replaces Farid Aouragh. Hughes has been editor of Vogue since 2002.

CEPIFINE Reports Coated Woodfree Shipments Down

http://www.cepifine.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=16

CEPIFINE has reported European coated woodfree shipments fell by -5% in December, as compared to the same month last year, and declined -4.9% in 2011, as compared to 2010.  Demand for the month decreased -3.1% and for the year was down -6.6%.  Exports in December fell -8.1% and for 2011 decreased -7.9%.

Tembec Reports Q1 Results

Tembec reports net loss of $16 million in its first quarter:

Tembec has posted a net loss of $16 million on sales of $401 million in its first quarter, ending on December 24, 2011.

JCPenney's New Promotional Plan, Includes Catalogues

JCPenney overhauls marketing, promo strategy:

JCPenney is getting a new logo and is completely revamping its pricing, branding, promotions, as well as refreshing its stores, the retailer's new CEO Ron Johnson announced Jan. 25.

A new logo is a part of the plan, and a direct mail catalog that will be mailed to "millions" of Americans, the company said in a statement.

L.L. Bean, Parks To Celebrate 100th Birthday

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/166415/ll-bean-parks-to-celebrate-100th-birthday.html?print

Maine retailer L.L. Bean is turning 100 this year, and as part of the birthday festivities, is targeting America’s couch-potato kids. Working with the National Park Foundation, Bean will spend $1 million to increase outdoor recreation among families, and introduce more children to America's national parks. Called the Million Moment Mission, the effort is based in part on research that shows the average kid spends less than one hour a day outdoors.

Media Buyers Optimistic

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120126/MEDIABUSINESS10/301269996/media-buyers-optimistic-about-ad-spending-increases?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editorial&utm_campaign=dailyclickthroughs

Media buyers are optimistic that ad and marketing spending will increase this year over 2011, according to a quarterly survey of advertising agencies conducted by Strata, a producer of media buying and selling software. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they expect their clients' advertising and marketing spending to increase or stay the same this year compared with 2011.  

American Cheerleader Sold to Varsity Spirit Corp.

American Cheerleader Sold to Varsity Spirit Corp.: American Cheerleader magazine has been sold by Macfadden Performing Arts Media, publisher of titles including Dance, Dance Spirit and Dance Teacher, to Varsity Spirit. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

R.R. Donnelley's Capital Structure

An Open Book: Inside R.R. Donnelley's Capital Structure:
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company today announced expected full-year 2011 free cash flow to be in the range of $650 million to $700 million, an increase from the previous guidance that called for free cash flow of approximately $600 million.

Blackstreet Capital Makes Changes at AlphaGraphics

Blackstreet Capital Severs Ties with AlphaGraphics CEO Kevin Cushing: WhatTheyThink has learned that Blackstreet Capital, which recently acquired the AlphaGraphics franchise network, has chosen to sever its relationship with CEO Kevin Cushing, who has served in that role since 2004.

Xerox Reports Q4 Results

Xerox Reports 14% increase in EPS on Flat Revenue: Xerox Corporation announced today fourth-quarter 2011 results. The company ended 2011 with full-year adjusted EPS up 15 percent, pro-forma revenue up 2 percent and operating cash flow of $2 billion.

Six New Launches, New Directions

http://www.foliomag.com/node/38423/print

The entrepreneurial spirit and lure of new revenue streams have not dimmed. If anything, they’ve grown more vital. Media executives, either emboldened by a market where the risk-averse leave opportunities wide open or driven to seek out new revenue as traditional platform growth slows to a crawl, are placing bets on new products and ventures.

Here, we examine six new startups from the last year that run the spectrum from a mega-brand launch from one of the country’s largest publishers (including Hearst's HGTV) to a small b-to-b play with big ambitions that’s received some serious backing from the venture community.

MeadWestvaco Reports Q4 Results

MeadWestvaco loses money in 4th quarter on charges:
RICHMOND, Va. &#8212 Packaging company MeadWestvaco Corp. lost money in the fourth quarter, dragged down by charges related to the spinoff of its consumer and office products business.

Catalyst Paper on Debt Reduction

Catalyst Paper Muddies the Water with Its Clarification and 443-Word Sentence: The Canadian papermaker has worked out a proposed deal with many of its bondholders that would enable it to avoid bankruptcy, but would turn up to 99.5% of its stock over to the bondholders in exchange for debt reduction.

Free Second Ounce for First Class Business Mail

USPS Launches Free Second Ounce Pricing for First-Class Business Mail: High-volume commercial mailers spoke, and the Postal Service listened. Effective this week, businesses mailing First-Class Mail automation, presort letters using “2nd Ounce Free” pricing can mail letters weighing up to two ounces at the one-ounce postage rate.

MagnaGlobal Revises Ad Forecast Up

MagnaGlobal revises U.S. ad forecast up to 3.7% growth this year: New York—U.S. ad revenue will grow by 3.7% this year over last year, according to a revised forecast by MagnaGlobal, the global media unit of IPG's Mediabrands. This forecast is up from a 2.9% growth projection issued by MagnaGlobal in October.

Media Executives Cautiously Optimistic for 2012

Report: Media execs cautiously optimistic: New York—Media executives are cautiously optimistic about this year, according to the “2012 Media Growth Survey Report,” released by Jordan, Edmiston Group and Econsultancy.

CFO Publishing Buys Innovation Enterprise

CFO Publishing acquires Innovation Enterprise Group: New York—CFO Publishing, publisher of CFO, has acquired the London-based Innovation Enterprise Group, a producer of conferences for senior finance executives. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Topspin Buys Stagnito Media

Stagnito Media sold to Topspin Partners: Deerfield, Ill.—Stagnito Media, a b-to-b media company that focuses on the food and retail sectors, has been sold to private equity firm Topspin Partners LBO for an undisclosed sum.

Bertelsmann Spins Off Its Arvato Printing Operations

Bertelsmann Spins Off Its Arvato Printing Operations: GÜTERSLOH, GERMANY—Jan. 25, 2012—Bertelsmann is focusing its Arvato division on growth with an emphasis on the services businesses. To achieve this, the gravure printing operations and all of Arvato’s international printers are being grouped into a separate unit outside the Arvato division.The new printing unit will have revenues of €1.2 billion and will consist of the Prinovis Group and its sites in Germany and the U.K., along with Arvato’s printers in Italy, Spain and the United States.

Kodak Seeking $950 Million from Investors

Kodak identifies core businesses as it pitches for $950m financing: Kodak has singled out digital printing and packaging solutions as being among its most valuable growth businesses, as part of its pitch to potential investors.

U.S. and Canada Sign Lumber Trade Extension

The 2006 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement will be extended an additional two years until 2015.  In the original agreement, which remains unchanged, the U.S. agreed to cease imposing antidumping and countervailing duties and Canada consented to export charges and volume limitations when the price fell below a certain level.

U.S. Recovered Paper Use Falls

U.S. Recovered Paper Consumption Drops 5% in 2011: According to the December 2011 Recovered Paper Monthly Report published by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), total U.S. industry consumption of recovered paper was 2.3 million tons, 7.5% lower than December of last year, and 3% lower than November 2011. Overall, consumption of recovered paper in 2011 was 5% lower than in 2010.

Kruger Corner Brook Mill Announces Plan

http://foresttalk.com/index.php/2012/01/23/job-cuts-coming-to-corner-brook-pulp-and-paper/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foresttalk%2FZdAe+%28ForestTalk%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Kruger announced a cost cutting plan for its Corner Brook, Newfoundland mill; it includes reducing labor costs and will be implemented in the first quarter of 2012.  The mill has two paper machines with a total capacity of approximately 260,000 metric tonnes per year of newsprint.  In what was assumed to be an accidental release of an internal company memorandum to CBC, Kruger said mill labor costs were $40 per metric tonne more than the $100 average for North America and that the facility would operate more efficiently with 135 fewer workers.

Meredith Buys Allrecipes.com from Reader’s Digest Association

Meredith Buys Allrecipes.com from Reader’s Digest Association:

Meredith Corp. is acquiring all recipes.com from reader’s Digest for $175 million.  The deal is expected to close by the end of this quarter.

Meredith National Media Announces FY Q2 Results

Meredith National Media Group's Ad Revenue Drops in Fiscal Second Quarter: Meredith saw a mixed fiscal 2012 second quarter, according to a company financial statement. While expenses for the National Media Group decreased 8 percent from the same period last year, overall and advertising revenue also fell during this quarter. Net revenue per magazine page rose by 8% .

24 Days, 9 Magazine/Website Deals

Have You Noticed? There's Been a Flurry of Magazine M&A:

Nine magazine and website deals in the last 24 days. More than a few magazine and media executives spent the holidays putting the finishing touches on deal closures. We're only 3 weeks into January and there's been a flurry of M&A action—from decently big deals to small.

Heart & Soul Magazine Sold to Group of Investors

Heart & Soul Magazine Sold to Group of Investors: Heart & Soul, an 18-year old wellness magazine historically serving African-American women, has been sold by independent owner Edwin V. Avent to a group of investors known as Brown Curry Detry Taylor & Associates, LL.

R.R. Donnelley Signs Agreement with Metro Inc.

Donnelley Signs Multimillion-Dollar Print Management Agreement With Metro: CHICAGO/TORONTO—Jan. 24, 2012—R. R. Donnelley & Sons has been awarded a multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement by Metro Inc., a leading grocery and pharmacy chain in Quebec and Ontario with more than 65,000 employees.

Supercalendered Paper Shipments Decline in December

As reported by the Pulp and Paper Products Council, Supercalendered paper shipments for December fell -29.7% in December as compared to the same month last year.  Shipments were down -7.9% for the year.  SC-A/SC-A+ shipments decreased -24.6% for the month and fell -14.1% for the year.  Demand for the grade was down -22.8% for December and -7.8% for 2011 and imports decreased -16.5% for the month, but rose +1.2% for the year.  SC-B/SNC+ shipments declined -35% for December, but increased +1.6% in 2011.  Demand for the grade fell -33.4% for the month, but was up +2.8% for the year.  Imports jumped >100% for both the month and for the full year.

NewPage Names Executive Vice President

James C. Tyrone Returns to NewPage as Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations & Business Development: 

NewPage has appointed James C. Tyrone as executive vice president, Commercial Operations and Business Development, effective February 1, 2012. The Sales and Marketing, Order Management and Strategy groups will be realigned under his direction.  Mr. Tyrone was formerly senior vice president of Sales and Marketing for the company.  He most recently served as senior vice president at Appleton Papers.

Resolute Forest Products Extends Date

Resolute Extending Offer for Fibrek to February 13:

AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business as Resolute Forest Products, today announced that it extended to February 13 the expiry date for its offer to acquire all the issued and outstanding common shares of Fibrek Inc.  Resolute CEO Richard Garneau said, "…over 57% of Fibrek shares have been tendered as of today."

Old Navy President Resigns

Old Navy president resigns: John Thomson (Tom) Wyatt, president of Gap Inc.'s Old Navy brand, resigned his position in order to become CEO of Portland-based global education company Knowledge Universe-U.S., said John Fread, director of PR at Knowledge Universe.