U.S. printer Quad/Graphics Inc. will take over the Montreal-based printing giant formerly known as Quebecor World, the two companies revealed Tuesday.

Wisconsin-based Quad will take over World Color Press Inc., the name adopted by Quebecor when it emerged from creditor protection in July. The resulting company will have 30,000 employees.

Pierre Karl Peladeau heads up the Montreal-based Quebecor empire. The former printing arm of the media conglomerate is set to merge with a U.S. rival. (Canadian Press)TSX-listed World Color shareholders would get a 40 per cent stake in the new company, which would then move to trade on a U.S. stock exchange.

The companies did not release a value for the total transaction, but Quad/Graphics annual revenues were roughly $2 billion US last year, and World Color has a market capitalization of some $730 million. The Wall Street Journal puts the price tag on the deal at between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion.

"We're not going to know until we see how the shares trade between now and closing" of the transaction, World Color CEO Mark Angelson told analysts on a conference call to discuss the deal.

Angelson will join the Quad board of directors as a condition of the pact. The transaction is expected to close this summer.

Quad/Graphics Inc. is the largest privately held printer in the United States. It is second in size only to publicly traded R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.

The companies estimate the combination will generate about $225 million in pre-tax synergies, a term that usually refers to a combination of cost cutting and improved growth.

The companies' statement Tuesday didn't provide details of what will happen to their current employees or locations.

Three-month stock chart for World Color Press on the TSX. (CBC)"By combining the strengths of both companies, we will enhance our leadership position in the printing industry," said Joel Quadracci, chairman, president and CEO of Quad/Graphics.

"This transaction presents compelling opportunities for the achievement of synergies and other efficiencies," Angelson said.

"I have the highest regard for Joel and his management team, whom I consider to be among the best and brightest executives anywhere. They have built a company known for having the industry's best technology, automation and robotics, and world-class customer service. Quad/Graphics will make a fine, stable home for Worldcolor managers and employees."

"The combined entity of the two companies will be much more productive and efficient," Walid Hejazi, associate professor of international business at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto told CBC News. "There's going to be tremendous synergies and cost savings."

Job losses expected

Hejazi expected there will be job losses but not necessarily in Canada.

"If those [job] functions can be done in Canada more productively or more competitively than they can in the U.S., the job losses will be on the U.S. side.," he said. "Only time will tell."

The companies said they have arranged $1.2 billion in financing from JPMorgan Chase and U.S. Bank.

The Harry V. Quadracci family will control the company through their holdings of multiple-vote B shares.

With files from The Canadian Press