John Paton, Chairman & CEO of impreMedia

Mr. Paton is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of the board of directors of impreMedia LLC, the No. 1 Hispanic News and Information company in the United States of America in online and print.

Launched by Mr. Paton and his partners in 2003, impreMedia consists of 29 online and print properties. Its publications are in 7 of the Top 10 Hispanic markets (17 markets total) and its products, in all media, are used by more than 40% of the U.S. Hispanic population. ImpreMedia has quickly carved out a reputation for excellence in journalism covering the Hispanic community and is a provider of that content not only across its own multi-media platform but also for such partners as MySpace, PBS/V-Me television network, the McClatchy Co. and Hearst. For more than 30 years Mr. Paton has been a prominent and respected U.S. and Canadian media executive blending a unique range of experience and accomplishment. Mr. Paton arrived in the U.S. in 2003 and has quickly built a reputation as a leading media executive. He has been named as a "Media All-Star" for 2005 by AdWeek magazine's Marketing y Medios. In September of 2006 Mr. Paton was the first non-broadcast executive to be named the Hispanic Media Executive of the Year by HispanicAd.Com at the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies' annual conference. In May 2008, Mr. Paton was named a finalist in New York’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program. The winner will be chosen June 26, 2008 in New York City.

Since the mid-90’s Mr. Paton has been directly involved as a senior executive or board member in more than $2.5 billion in media transactions and financings. He has a well developed reputation as a turn-around specialist who builds effective management teams, drives award winning journalism and achieves superior financial results. Mr. Paton has been responsible for media operations in the U.S., Canada, France and Spain.

Launched in 2003 with the acquisition of El Diario La Prensa in New York, impreMedia is a private-equity backed company focused on the U.S. Hispanic market and its news and information needs. Mr. Paton has subsequently led the impreMedia team through numerous and successful acquisitions plus the start of the first news and information portal for Hispanics in the U.S. The company now owns and operates products in many markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Houston and San Antonio. In 2007, Mr. Paton and his management team launched impreMedia Digital. Mr. Paton led the impreMedia team through the successful re-structuring of the company’s many acquisitions, which involved key management changes, cost reductions (including re-negotiating no-cut union contracts) and the significant re-investment and re-focus in content, sales and marketing efforts. The operational results have been very strong. Those results have allowed for a successful re-capitalization of the company and subsequent return of capital to investors - dramatically reducing their equity at risk. ImpreMedia is currently considered by its investors to be one of their most successful investments in their respective portfolios.

Mr. Paton is a graduate of Ryerson University's journalism program and has successfully completed the Finance for Senior Executives program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.

Mr. Paton joined The Toronto Sun as a copy boy in 1977, progressing through the newsroom holding the titles of city editor, assistant managing editor and then editor-in-chief before being appointed Publisher and CEO of the Ottawa Sun in 1994. In 1997, Mr. Paton was appointed Publisher and CEO of the London Free Press. That same year he was also made Vice-President of the corporation responsible for a group of Ontario dailies. From 1999 to 2000, Mr. Paton was Chief Executive Officer of www.canoe.ca - Canada's largest news and information website.

Mr. Paton played a senior management role in the 1996 management-led leveraged buyout of Sun Media Corp. for $442 million and the subsequent rounds of debt financing in the United States for $150 million and $90 million respectively. Working with Sun Media CEO Paul Godfrey and the senior management team, Mr. Paton was intimately involved in the corporation's $311 million Initial Public Offering.

Mr. Paton and the Sun Media team grew the company through acquisition from approximately 40 publications to what became more than 180 with the merger with Quebecor. Mr. Paton played a key role in the two largest deals - the $168 million purchase of the London Free Press and Netmar and the $240 million sale and swap of assets which included the corporation's national business daily newspaper the Financial Post. As a member of the corporation's management committee, Mr. Paton played a senior role in the sale of the company to Quebecor for approx. $1.3 billion (including debt) in 1999. Sun Media emerged as the second-largest newspaper company in Canada.

Mr. Paton continued to combine his mergers and acquisition expertise as CEO of Quebecor's new media company CANOE - Canadian Online Explorer. He was responsible for the company's acquisitions of several companies, including www.imoney.com the nation's premier online business site, and the launch of several online city sites plus the creation of divisions in France and Spain which resulted in www.canoe.ca becoming Canada's largest news and information website. Mr. Paton was spearheading the company's IPO process when it was halted in the late spring of 2000 with the collapse of investor confidence in the technology sector.

Subsequent to leaving CANOE, Mr. Paton co-founded Knight Paton Media Corp., a company which advises firms on mergers and acquisitions. Knight Paton Media Corporation played a key role in the successful creation of impreMedia LLC now the leading Hispanic News and Information company in the U.S.

In addition to his current director's position with impreMedia, Mr. Paton recently stepped down as a Trustee of the Osprey Media Income Fund, a public company, after that company was successfully sold to Quebecor for approx. $575 million (including debt) realizing a superior multiple on valuation. Osprey, now part of Quebecor, is based in Canada and operated 57 daily and non-daily newspaper publications. He is also a former member of the board of CANOE - Canadian Online Explorer, a leading online news and information portal. Mr. Paton, who recently stepped down as a director of MMI Media Management Inc., remains an advisor to the company.

Mr. Paton is routinely sought out by senior members of the U.S. and Canadian investment communities for his advice on the newspaper industry. As well, he has served as a board member of the Canadian Newspaper Association, the Newspaper Marketing Bureau, the Canadian Press and as a governor of the National Newspaper Awards. Mr. Paton has also acted as a judge for the National Newspaper Awards in the Breaking News category.

A member of the media and business community in the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Paton has been a member of a number of boards, advisory boards and foundations, assisting industry, community, health and arts organizations.

Mr. Paton is the co-founder of the Paton-Collins Fellowship for studies in reproductive endocrinology at the London Health Sciences Foundation/University of Western Ontario. He has pursued his interest in health care and communities, serving on several boards and foundations including as a member of the Campaign Cabinet, London Health Sciences Foundation in London, Ontario. Mr. Paton was part of the executive team, which met regularly and was successful in raising approx. $100 million over a four year period.

Mr. Paton has also served as a member of the board of directors of the London Health Sciences Center - a multi-campus hospital in London, Ontario and as a director of LHSC Research Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Paton served on the board of directors of the Ottawa General Hospital Foundation. Also in Ottawa, he served as a director of the Ronald McDonald House which offers accommodation to families from out of town who are visiting sick children in the hospital.

A supporter of the arts, Mr. Paton is an active patron of the visual arts and has served as a member of the advisory board of Orchestra London and as a director of the Ottawa Ballet. Mr. Paton has also been a strong supporter of Parkchester Little League Baseball in the Bronx since 2003 having personally sponsored a team for the last five seasons. He is an avid student of newspaper history and has as a hobby the restoration of a 16th century farm in Normandy, France.

In October of 2006, Mr. Paton's alma mater, Ryerson University, granted him the Alumni Award of Distinction.

Mr. Paton lives in New York.

Office: (212) 807-4640
Email: john.paton@impremedia.com