La Presse becomes Official French Language Newspaper Supplier for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Vancouver, BC — La Presse, through its parent company Gesca Ltée, is partnering with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) to help bring the Games into the homes of francophone families in Canada as the exclusive Official French Language Newspaper Supplier for the 2010 Winter Games.

The sponsorship provides VANOC with greater regional advertising avenues through print and online advertising in Gesca Ltée’s eight publications: La Presse, Le Soleil, Le Droit, Le Quotidien, Le Progrès Dimanche, Le Nouvelliste, La Tribuneand La Voix de L’Est, as well as Cyberpresse.ca.

In turn, La Presse will have exclusive rights as an Official Supplier in the French Language Newspaper Product Category for the 2010 Winter Games and rights to associate with the Canadian Olympic Team competing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games. The sponsorship is a marketing and advertising partnership and is independent of the publication’s editorial coverage of the 2010 Winter Games.

“As Canada welcomes the Winter Games for the first time in 20 years, La Presse is proud to be part of this world-class event,” said Guy Crevier, chairman and publisher of La Presse and chairman of Gesca Ltée. “This prestigious association with Vancouver 2010 allows our advertisers to enjoy unique parallel advertising opportunities through such themes as sport, team spirit and excellence, both in our daily newspapers and online on Cyberpresse.”

“This partnership provides VANOC and the 2010 Winter Games with the very best communications vehicles enabling us to further engage with French speaking communities across the country to share and celebrate the spirit of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games,” said John Furlong, VANOC Chief Executive Officer. “We’re very pleased to have La Presse’s excellent team of newspapers on board — the calibre of their publications is a great fit with our commitment to ensure both of Canada’s official languages are well represented and celebrated at the Games and all provinces feel a part of Canada’s Games in 2010.”



About La Presse and Gesca Ltée

La Presse is Canada’s French-language national newspaper. Based in Montreal, the daily serves a readership of 815,900 and features rich and diversified coverage of local, national and international news, maintaining correspondents in New York, Washington, London and Paris; and with its in-depth articles and series and a roster of award-winning journalists, columnists and editorialists, La Presse is not only a leading source of news but also an important forum for ideas, discussion and exchange. La Presse is owned by Gesca Ltée, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada (TSE: POW) that specializes in lines of businesses such as the publication of newspapers, websites, magazines and books.



About VANOC

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

VANOC’s marketing program is focused on securing mutually rewarding partnerships with shared values to generate sufficient revenue to host successful Winter Games in 2010 and to leave a financial legacy for sport. VANOC’s Worldwide TOP Partners include Coca-Cola, ACER, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa. VANOC’s National Partners are Bell Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company, RBC Financial Group, GM Canada, Petro-Canada and RONA.

VANOC’s Official Supporters include Air Canada, BC Hydro, Bombardier Inc., the British Columbia Lottery Corp., Canadian Pacific, the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia, Jet Set Sports, Ricoh Canada Inc., the Royal Canadian Mint and Teck Cominco Ltd. VANOC’s Official Suppliers are 3M, Acklands-Grainger, Aggreko, Aquilini Investment Group, Birks, Britco, Canada Post, Canwest Publishing Inc., COLD-FX., Deloitte, Dow Canada, EPCOR, Garrett Metal Detectors, General Mills, Hain Celestial Canada, Haworth Canada, Jackson-Triggs, Karl’s Global Events Inc., La Presse, Millennium Development Corp., Molson, Nortel, Port Metro Vancouver, Purolator, Saputo, Sleep Country Canada, Sun Microsystems of Canada, The Globe and Mail, Tickets.com, TransCanada, Vancouver Airport Authority, Weston Bakeries, Workopolis and Wrigley Canada.