FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership (FPLP), which owns and operates the Winnipeg Free Press and the Brandon Sun, is expanding rapidly.

Due to the acquisition of several previously independent publications in 2004 and 2005, the company controls eight community newspapers under the Canstar community news division, including everything from the alternative weekly Uptown to the seniors publication Prime Times.

As of February this year, they have expanded even further by purchasing an award-winning Steinbach newspaper, The Carillon, as well as the family-owned commercial printing operation Derksen Printers Ltd.

“It was natural for us to want to reach out further afield to a very good newspaper and to a very good business,” said Bob Cox, the publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press, about the purchase.

“We’d love to expand even beyond Steinbach, but you take one step at a time.”

According to Cox, FPLP purchased the printer and newspaper for $3.4 million. Together, the two assets generate over $5 million in annual revenue.

Both the newspaper and the printer were purchased from Rick Derksen, whose family had founded both businesses in 1936.

“Rick Derksen has been looking to retire for a while now and I think it was just a good time for him (to sell the business),” Cox said.

Matthew Derksen, Rick Derksen’s son and an advertising salesman for The Carillon, believes that it was the quality of the family’s product that prompted FPLP to approach them with a generous offer.

“They looked at us and they looked at our product and I guess they decided that it was a good thing to do,” he said.

The sale agreement stipulated that there will be no staff changes in the short term among the 50 current employees at the printer and the newspaper, he added.

Peter Dyck, who has worked as the editor of The Carillon for 35 years, doesn’t feel as though his job is in danger.

“We all signed sheets indicating that we would have a job,” he said.

“We see some new challenges and opportunities and we’re ready to move ahead.”

In addition to The Carillon, Derksen Printers prints a vast array of publications, including The Uniter, The Manitoban, the faith-based ChristianWeek and a poverty paper, Name This Paper!, which was recently established by Winnipeg Harvest.

They also print a number of publications catering to Manitoba’s Chinese, Filipino and other ethnic communities.

Nick Ternette, the chair of the editorial board for Name This Paper!, believes that the purchase of Derksen Printers is another sign that the Free Press is attempting to secure a monopoly on print media in the province.

“The Free Press is trying to build up a significant monopoly over the printing business,” he said, citing the purchases in 2004 and 2005 of eight community publications, including the previously independent Uptown magazine.

Ternette, who worked as a political columnist for Uptown from 1998 to 2007, says he was removed from the paper’s staff because FPLP decided that the paper should cater to a younger demographic.

“Ultimately, if they can drive the Winnipeg Sun out of the market, they will have a complete monopoly here (in Manitoba) in terms of newspapers and printing,” he said.

Cox responded by saying that FPLP respects local businesses and has no intention of imposing a centralized plan on The Carillon.

The organization simply wants to have a regional presence in Manitoba, he said.

“We’re really thrilled to be involved in community newspapers in this way,” he added.

Published in Volume 65, Number 24 of The Uniter (March 24, 2011)