SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- LiveDeal.ca (http://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 http://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 , primarily engaged in the publication of newspapers, including the Montreal 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 Quebec and Ontario, Gesca publishes several specialty magazines and books, and produces television programming. Gesca also owns a 20 percent interest in Workopolis, Canada's largest online employment site.
About LiveDeal
LiveDeal 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 also partners with online and offline media to quickly and cost effectively power their classifieds via its dynamic LiveDeal classifieds platform. LiveDeal 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 recently launched LiveDeal Canada (livedeal.ca) in partnership with Torstar Corporation and Gesca Ltd. For more information about LiveDeal, see http://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.
Media Contact:
Marian Hughes
Tier One Partners
708-246-0083
