LiveDeal.ca announces new partner; Gesca Ltd. joins LiveDeal, Inc. and Torstar Digital in delivering one of Canada's largest free online classifieds sites: LiveDeal.ca

BY: 

Dave Forde
July 11, 2006

TORONTO, July 11 /CNW/ – LiveDeal.ca (www.livedeal.ca), one of the
Internet’s fastest growing online local classifieds sites, has announced that
Gesca Ltd., the wholly-owned Canadian publishing subsidiary of Power
Corporation of Canada whose holdings constitute Canada’s largest
French-language daily newspaper group, has entered into the existing joint
venture between LiveDeal, Inc. and Torstar Digital to deliver LiveDeal.ca.
Launched in January of 2006, LiveDeal.ca has quickly become one of the
nation’s leading free online classifieds sites and will further extend its
reach through the upcoming launch of the French-language version of
LiveDeal.ca. LiveDeal.ca’s online classified platform helps people
cost-effectively buy and sell items on a local level. LiveDeal.ca is
especially ideal for buying and selling items that are hard to ship or that
must be tried or seen before they are bought such as cars, homes major
appliances as well as for posting or finding apartments or homes for rent.
The joint venture between LiveDeal, Inc. and its Canadian media partners
marries the strength of LiveDeal Inc.’s industry-leading Web classifieds
technology with the extensive local reach of Torstar’s and Gesca’s Canadian
media brands. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“The early, impressive success of LiveDeal.ca shows the strong demand in
Canada for a free online classifieds site that brings together the best of the
Internet with the best of the local experience,” said Simon Jennings, General
Manager of LiveDeal.ca. “We plan to further extend LiveDeal.ca’s reach to
French-speaking Canadians by working with an established French-language media
group with extensive local reach and a leading market position in the
classified advertising market through its various print properties.”
“Gesca is enthusiastic about joining forces with Torstar Digital and
LiveDeal to deliver the most effective online classified platform to all
Canadians” said Guy Crevier, President of Gesca. “The powerful new online
tools and platform offered by LiveDeal.ca also enable Gesca to provide its
readers and advertisers with a comprehensive and complementary print and
online classified solution while growing Gesca’s online presence in the
Canadian Internet sector.”

About LiveDeal.ca

With its free listings and broad selection, LiveDeal.ca is ideal for
trading hard-to-ship items such as automobiles, furniture, pets, appliances,
real estate and other “try before you buy” items. Buyers can browse or search
for items using LiveDeal.ca’s easy-to-use web interface, seeing what’s
available locally first then nationwide second. Sellers enjoy a local or
national listing with optional enhancements, resulting in a more
cost-effective marketplace to list their goods and services. To experience
LiveDeal, visit www.livedeal.ca. LiveDeal.ca is a joint venture between
LiveDeal Inc., Torstar Corporation’s online unit, Torstar Digital, and Gesca
that marries the strength of LiveDeal Inc.’s industry-leading Web classifieds
technology with the extensive local reach of Torstar’s and Gesca’s newspapers.

About Gesca

Gesca is a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Corporation (TSE: POW),
primarily engaged in the publication of newspapers, including the Montréal
daily newspaper La Presse. In recent years, Gesca has focused its resources on
the production of high-quality content. Today, in addition to publishing seven
daily newspapers in the provinces of Québec and Ontario, Gesca publishes
several specialty magazines and books, and produces television programming.
Gesca also owns a 20 per cent interest in Workopolis, Canada’s largest online
employment site.

About LiveDeal Inc.

LiveDeal Inc. is one of the leaders in the free local online classifieds
market with more than $3 billion worth of goods listed for sale, in every city
and zip code across the U.S. Buyers and sellers come together through the vast
LiveDeal.com marketplace, which is ideal for trading items you want to see or
try before you buy, such as pets, automobiles, furniture, appliances, real
estate and more. LiveDeal Inc. also partners with online and offline media to
quickly and cost effectively power their classifieds via its dynamic LiveDeal
Inc. classifieds platform. LiveDeal Inc. was founded in 2003 by Rajesh Navar,
an original member of eBay’s engineering team, with executives from other
pioneering Internet companies. As part of its global expansion, LiveDeal Inc.
recently launched LiveDeal Canada (livedeal.ca) in partnership with Torstar
Corporation and Gesca Ltd. For more information about LiveDeal Inc., see
www.livedeal.com.

About Torstar

Torstar Corporation is a broadly based media company listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Its business include newspapers led by the
Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper; CityMedia Group, publishers of
daily and community newspapers in Southwestern Ontario; Metroland Printing,
Publishing & Distributing, publishers for more than 90 community newspapers in
Ontario; digital properties including Workopolis.com, Toronto.com and
Livedeal.ca; and Harlequin Enterprises, a leading global publisher for women’s
fiction.

For further information: Media Contact: Marian Hughes, Tier One
Partners, (708) 246-0083, [email protected]; Kathy Wilson, Tier One Partners,
(781) 652-0499, [email protected]; Leslie Molko, Gesca, (514) 285-7253,
[email protected]; Heather Armstrong, Torstar, (416) 869-4620
[email protected]

– Canada Newswire

[tags] LiveDeal, TorStar [/tags]

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Dave Forde


Dave “The Connector” Forde has been involved in the marketing, public relations and technology industry across Canada for over 20 years in various sales and marketing roles, he launched The Connected One network of business sites which connects buyers to the right sellers. Profectio and PR In Canada covers news about the marketing and public relations industry each day helping professionals advance their career and businesses. He also serves as an advisor to a number of businesses across the country. Find Dave on LinkedIn and Twitter.


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