TORONTO — Metro will launch newspapers in London, Ont. and Winnipeg, which join seven other Canadian cities and more than 100 major centres around the world with editions of the free weekday papers.
The two new papers will be joint ventures between Metro International SA of Sweden and Torstar Corp. (TSX:TS.B), publisher of the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Region Record and other daily and community papers. In Winnipeg, the eighth-largest metropolitan area in Canada, Metro will be up against the Winnipeg Free Press — published by FP Canadian Newspapers Ltd. (TSX:FP) — as well as the Winnipeg Sun, part of the Quebecor group of papers.
Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B) also owns the London Free Press through Sun Media, which also owns the Toronto Sun and Sun papers in several other major cities as well as the free weekday papers 24 Hours and 24 heures in six cities.