Kodak Emerges from Bankruptcy as Tech. Co.

http://whattheythink.com/news/65154-kodak-emerges-technology-company-focused-imaging-business/

Today, Antonio M. Perez, Kodak Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, announced the company’s emergence from Chapter 11 as a reorganized company, following completion of the final steps in the restructuring process.
“We have emerged as a technology company serving imaging for business markets – including packaging, functional printing, graphic communications and professional services,” said Perez. “We have been revitalized by our transformation and restructured to become a formidable competitor – leaner, with a strong capital structure, a healthy balance sheet, and the industry’s best technology.”
Kodak completed the final steps in its Chapter 11 restructuring, including the spin-off of its Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses to Kodak Pension Plan, a longstanding pension plan of Kodak’s U.K. subsidiary. The company also successfully closed on its agreement for $695 million in term exit financing, paid off its DIP lenders and second lien noteholders in full and completed its rights offerings, receiving approximately $406 million of new equity investments from participating unsecured creditors.

DMA Hires New Top Lobbyist

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/dma-hires-new-top-lobbyist-152197

The Direct Marketing Association has hired a new top lobbyist. Peggy Renken Hudson will serve as senior vp of government affairs, replacing Jerry Cerasale, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

Between now and the year, Hudson will be working with Cerasale, who is capping off 20-years with the DMA.

There's plenty to do as the industry fights off increasing calls for new regulations to control the data collection practices of data brokers. The DMA is also part of the Digital Advertising Alliance, which is embroiled in the ongoing Do Not Track debate over consumer privacy.

California Poised to Get Do Not Track Law

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/california-poised-get-do-not-track-disclosure-law-152176

The chances of a consumer privacy bill coming out of Congress any time soon are slim, but that hasn't stopped California, which continues to forge new ground when it comes to consumer privacy legislation.

At the end of August, the California Senate and Assembly passed an amendment (AB370) to the California Online Privacy Protection Act that will require commercial websites and services that collect personal data to disclose how they respond to Do Not Track signals from Web browsers.
It was introduced by California Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi and sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris, who has been making a name for herself by aggressively pursuing consumer privacy enforcement actions. Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign the amendment.

Hearst Offers iPad Sub Deal

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

For a limited time, Hearst is offering a $10 iTunes credit with the purchase of a one-year iPad-version subscription to its magazines. 

AppAdvice

Bloomberg Folding Law Division

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Bloomberg LP is folding Bloomberg Law into its Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs unit and is expected to lay off an undisclosed number of journalists as part of “rebranding.” BBNA was built around Bloomberg’s acquisition of the Bureau of National Affairs in 2011 for $990M, the largest purchase in its history. The company says that many of the 250 journalists at Bloomberg Law will be offered jobs at Arlington, Va.-based BBNA, a provider of legal and regulatory news and information. Bloomberg Law was seen as a way to get away from the desktop terminal business and make some inroads into the legal research field dominated by Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw and Reed Elsevier’s Lexis/Nexis.

NY Post

Western U.S. Pulp Mills Now Seeing Lower Costs

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/09_03_2013wood_costs_western_usa_wri.html
Wood costs account for between 50-55 percent of the production costs for pulp mills in the US. Historically these costs have often been substantially lower in the Southern states than in the Northwest — the two major pulp-producing regions of the country. However, this has been changing with the most dramatic regional price movements in North America happening in the US Northwest, where prices for softwood chips, the major fiber source for the region’s pulp mills, have fallen for five consecutive quarters, says Hakan Ekstrom of Wood Resources International (WRI).

During much of the past seven years, wood costs have been substantially higher for pulp mills in Western US than they have for pulp mills in the Southern states. However, sharply falling wood chip prices in the West during 2012 and 2013 have improved the competitiveness of the region’s pulp mills.

Domtar Nearing Start of Biomass Power Plant

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/09_03_2013domtar_rothschild_mill_biomass.html

At the newest power plant in Wisconsin, fuel will come from close to home.
Unlike coal, which is brought in by train from Wyoming and Appalachia, biomass will be culled from the sawmills and forests of northern Wisconsin.
Most of the waste wood that will supply the $268 million We Energies and Domtar power plant will come from within 75 miles of Rothschild, said Jim Freiberg of Domtar.
The plant, which will provide electricity for We Energies and steam for Domtar's paper mill, will burn wood waste from sawmills and pulp mills as well as leftover wood removed from the forest floor after logging operations.

Stora Begins Job Cuts at Kvarnsveden Mill

http://www.storaenso.com/

Stora Enso is starting negotiations with employee representatives this week regarding plans to take out 75 positions at its Kvarnsveden mill in central Sweden. Of these, 25 would be blue-collar jobs.

The plan will see the factory's headcount go down to some 500 employees. How this might affect production will be discussed during the negotiations, mill manager Mikko Jokio said.

This is part of Stora Enso's plans to streamline operations and cut costs by some Euro 200 million ($264 million), announced in June. As a result, the company may slash up to 2,500 jobs in total. Negotiations have started at several of its mills in Finland and Sweden, and also in Belgium and Germany.

Stora Enso halted production on the 270,000 tonne/yr newsprint machine PM 11 at the Kvarnsveden mill in May for market related-reasons. It was later decided the machine would remain down for good. In connection tot his, the company made 27 people redundant, while an undisclosed number of workers left the plant through early retirement and other arrangements, Jokio said.

India Paper Producers Raising Prices 5-8%

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/paper-producers-raise-prices-on-raw-material-cost-push-113083000853_1.html

Paper producers have decided to raise their products' prices by 5-8% due to rising input cost.

While industry leaders Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT) and Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd have decided make the price rise effective September 1, J K paper has already raised prices of a majority of its products early this week.

This increase in paper prices is set to make books and note books expensive in coming days.

Uruguay Will Not Authorize UPM Pulp Expansion

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/08/31/uruguay-fearing-the-wrath-of-cristina-fernandez-denies-authorization-to-expand-pulp-mill-capacity

Uruguay will not authorize UPM pulp expansion at Fray Bentos as talks with Argentina underway; mill maintenance outage may be extended [From the web]

The Uruguayan government fearful of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's reaction will not authorize the local UPM pulp mill to expand its production capacity from 1 million to 1.3 million tons annually, in the short term, according to company and government sources.

On Friday UPM with its pulp mill next to Fray Bentos on the shared river Uruguay, across from the Argentine town of Gualeguaychú reported that beginning 14 September it will start its annual maintenance stoppage.

New Union Goes on Offensive

http://www.citynews.ca/2013/08/31/new-unifor-leader-taking-labour-movement-on-the-offensive/
Jerry Dias hopes to use his new position as president of Canada’s newest — and largest — private sector union to turn the tide for Canada’s labour movement.
The Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada have merged to form a new group called Unifor.
Dias was elected with about 87 per cent support at the new union’s founding convention in Toronto on Saturday.
“Unifor is here because it’s time to stop playing defence and it’s time we started to play offence,” said Dias in his fiery inaugural address. “It’s time to stop reacting and it’s time to start setting the agenda.”
Dias seemed to be especially focused on labour’s relations with the federal government.
The new union represents 300,000 Canadian workers.

Gap's Marketing Focus Fuels Major Rebound

http://adage.com/article/special-report-marketer-alist-2013/gap-s-global-marketing-focus-fuels-major-retail-rebound/243763/
Gap Inc. spent several years as a punching bag for Wall Street, thanks to slipping sales, marketing missteps and an indistinct positioning among some of its core brands. But the company is swinging back.
Its stock hit a 52-week high last month. Net sales for the second quarter rose 8%, while sales for July were up 5%. Global expansion and the rapid creation of strong global marketing teams is fueling growth. Gap Inc. rounded out its trio of global chief marketing officer positions this year, with appointments at Old Navy and Banana Republic. Marketing across its brands is benefiting from increased investment and fresh ideas.

Jarden to Buy Yankee Candle

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/03/us-jarden-yankeecandle-idUSBRE98205C20130903

Jarden Corp (JAH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), known for its Mr. Coffee products, agreed to buy candle maker Yankee Candle Co Inc for $1.75 billion after private equity owner Madison Dearborn Partners LLC failed to sell for a higher price earlier this year.
Jarden, which sells Crock-Pot slow cookers and Sunbeam electric blankets, said on Tuesday it would fund the transaction with cash, common equity and a mix of bank debt and bonds.
The acquisition of Yankee Candle, the largest scented candle company in the United States, will bolster Jarden's branded consumables division, and adjusted cash flow on a pro-forma basis would have been about 25 percent higher in the 12 months to the end of June 2013, Jarden said.
The deal is expected to be accretive to Jarden's adjusted earnings per share by approximately 10 percent before synergies, Jarden added.

Active Interest Media Buys 3 Titles

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/active-interest-media-buys-3-titles-robert-kennedy-publishing#.UiZE_7yYyKw

Enthusiast publisher Active Interest Media has acquired three titles from Robert Kennedy Publishing, based in Ontario, Canada. Included in the cash deal are women's health and fitness title Oxygen, recipe and nutrition magazine Clean Eating and MuscleMag International.
Robert Kennedy Publishing parent Canusa declared bankruptcy in June 2013 and AIM bought the three brands in cash through an auction process that kicked off in July.
Andrew Clurman, AIM's president and chief operating officer, says the company has been quietly building up its health and fitness division, anchored by its Yoga Journal and Vegetarian Times brands. 

Smart Retailer Acquired by Jones Publishing

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/smart-retailer-acquired-jones-publishing#.UiZFhryYyKw

Jones Publishing Inc. bought Smart Retailer, formerly Country Business, from Country Sampler, a publishing division of Annie’s, to expand its craft and collectibles portfolio. Smart Retailer, published by Country Sampler since 1993, is a b-to-b retailing magazine that features gifts, crafts and collectibles. Jones Publishing, founded in 1986, maintains a big presence in the market, already publishing four special-interest magazines.

Condé Nast Bringing Back Domino Full-Time

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/cond-nast-bringing-back-domino-full-time#.UiZF3ryYyKw

After shuttering interior design magazine Domino in January 2009, Condé Nast has quietly held tight to the popular brand. Starting with bi-annual special editions in 2012, the publisher heightened public interest that it will now look to capitalize on with a full re-launch in the fall.
The Domino brand is reportedly being revived as an e-commerce site and quarterly print magazine as early as September, according to several sources who spoke to Women’s Wear Daily. Launched in April 2005, the shelter titled carried a ratebase of 850,000 and maintained a total paid and verified circulation average of 1.12 million during the first-half of 2008, according to ABC.