COSSETTE COMMUNICATIONS FILES FOR PUBLIC OFFERING
By Adnews Staff
Cossette Communications Group Inc. of Quebec City has announced the communications-marketing firm has filed for an initial public offering of Subordinate Voting Shares across Canada. The company hopes to raise between $30 million and $40 million through the offering, Jean Royer, vice-president and financial officer of Cossette told Adnews yesterday. The company expects to go public on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges in mid-to-late June. The underwriting is being led by Nesbitt Burns and includes CIBC World Markets, RBC Dominion Securities and Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion. "Cossette Communications Group will use the net proceeds to accelerate its growth in Canada and its development in the United States," said president and CEO Claude Lessard. For the fiscal year ending September 1998 Cossette recorded billings of $401.9 million, compared with $330.2 million for the previous year. Gross income reached $82.4 million in 1998, compared with $67.7 million the year before. The communications-marketing firm was established in 1972. Its subsidiaries include: Blitz Promotion, Optimum Public Relations, Grapheme, Geyser Creation, Cossette Interactive and Impact Research. The firm operates offices in Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.