Valassis Announces Sale of French Subsidiaries to HighCo

    LIVONIA, Mich., Aug. 20 /EMWNews/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI),

one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies,

announced today the sale of its French subsidiaries to HighCo, a French

marketing services company, for an undisclosed cash amount. The sale was

completed on Aug. 18.



    "With limited human and capital resources to invest in long-term

international growth, it is imperative we invest where the greatest

potential for growth and return on investment exists," said Alan F.

Schultz, Valassis Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "With

the completion of our state-of-the-art clearing operation in Poland, we

will focus our efforts on the clearing business in selected countries in

Europe, which has proven to be a more profitable business. We will continue

to develop our media business in China and a few select markets in Europe

where it drives profitable clearing volumes."



    Valassis' business in France consisted primarily of media-related

activities such as coupon and promotional distribution and in-store

signage. Management had previously projected its French operations'

revenues and earnings before taxes, for the second half of 2008, to be

approximately $16 million and $1 million, respectively.

    About Valassis



    Valassis is one of the nation's leading media and marketing services

companies, offering unparalleled reach and scale to more than 15,000

advertisers. Its RedPlum media portfolio delivers value on a weekly basis

to over 100 million shoppers across a multi-media platform -- in-home,

in-store and in-motion. Through its newest offering -- redplum.com --

consumers will find compelling national and local deals online.

Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in

28 states and nine countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its

associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America's

Looking for Its Missing Children(R) program. Valassis companies include

Valassis Direct Mail, Inc., Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis

Relationship Marketing Systems, LLC and NCH Marketing Services, Inc. For

more information, visit http://www.valassis.com or http://www.redplum.com.



    Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements



    Certain statements found in this document constitute "forward-looking

statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform

Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown

risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual

results, performance or achievements of Valassis to be materially different

from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied

by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the

following: price competition from our existing competitors; new competitors

in any of our businesses; a shift in customer preference for different

promotional materials, promotional strategies or coupon delivery methods

including as a result of declines in newspaper circulations; an unforeseen

increase in our paper or postal costs; changes which affect the businesses

of our clients and lead to reduced sales promotion spending including a

decrease in marketing budgets which are generally discretionary in nature

and easier to reduce in the short-term than other expenses; challenges and

costs of achieving synergies and cost savings in connection with the ADVO

acquisition and integrating ADVO's operations may be greater than expected;

our substantial indebtedness, and our ability to incur additional

indebtedness, may affect our financial health; certain covenants in our

debt documents could adversely restrict our financial and operating

flexibility; fluctuations in the amount, timing, pages, weight and kinds of

advertising pieces from period to period, due to a change in our clients'

promotional needs, inventories and other factors; our failure to attract

and retain qualified personnel may affect our business and results of

operations; a rise in interest rates could increase our borrowing costs;

the outcome of ADVO's pending shareholder lawsuits; possible governmental

regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business; and general

economic conditions, whether nationally or in the market areas in which we

conduct business, may be less favorable than expected. We disclaim any

intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,

whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Additional risks include, but are not limited to those risk factors

described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31,

2007 (the 2007 Form 10-K) and our other filings with the United States

Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").