ImpreMedia, the largest publisher of Spanish-language newspapers in the U.S., has decided to outsource the production, design and formatting of advertisements and editorial pages for some of its biggest print publications.

In an announcement posted to impreMedia's website this afternoon, the company revealed that Monterrey, Mexico-based Business News Group (BNG) will be taking on the tasks for the daily La Opinión in Los Angeles, and weekly newspapers La Raza in Chicago, La Prensa in Orlando, El Mensajero in San Francisco and Rumbo in Houston.

Impremedia CEO John Paton said in a statement that the move is consistent with the company's goal to concentrate resources on content creation, audience growth and revenue generation. "By shifting these tasks to BNG we reduce the resources required to produce our publications, allowing us to invest in the high-quality journalism that is the hallmark of our company," Paton said.

Business News Group is the publisher of Biznews North Mexico and the website biznews.com.mx. Founded in 1999, Biznews is published in Spanish and is a regional business publication. Additionally, BNG produces custom publications for Mexico's tourism industry and offers a range of design, content, translation and consulting services for the public and private sectors in Mexico. BNG is lead by CEO Luke Betts, once the new products manager for Thomson newspapers and assistant managing editor for the Toronto Sun. Interestingly, Paton is also a former Toronto Sun editor, beginning his career at the publication as a copy boy.

The arrangement with BNG is the latest in a series of moves seen within the last month at impreMedia. On November 12, the company entered into a content-sharing agreement with AOL Latino that covers news and lifestyle features. As part of the deal, impreMedia will provide AOL Latino with news content - including breaking news, analysis of local events and human interest stories. AOL Latino will deliver to impreMedia content focused on fashion, beauty and family issues, among others. Content will be shared across the digital formats of La Opinión, La Raza, La Prensa, El Mensajero and Rumbo, as well as el diario/La Prensa in New York - a title not included in the BNG deal.

On November 11, El Latino - the leading Spanish-language weekly in San Diego - announced that it had named Mike Cano as Publisher. Cano is a Hispanic newspaper industry veteran who most recently served as vice president of business development and partnerships for La Opinión.

In late October, impreMedia promoted Olga Casabona to the newly created role of vice president/audience and market insights. She is based in New York and reports directly to Paton. Casabona now oversees proprietary and syndicated research for the privately held company. Casabona has been with impreMedia since 2003, when she joined La Opinión as a senior market research analyst.  

HMW