There were two significant transactions involving printing franchise systems. The investors behind Allegra Networks formed a NewCo (name to be announced) to purchase Signs By Tomorrow. The acquired company prints signs, wraps and banners and for the foreseeable future will co-exist with Allegra’s other wide-format printing business, Signs Now. Blackstreet Capital Partners acquired AlphaGraphics, the international chain of “instant printing” franchisees with over 300 store fronts, another indication that private equity is finding value in the printing industry, a trend we noted last month. In another move by a private equity fund, Arbor Investments acquired Great Lakes Packaging, adding to the two packaging firms already in its portfolio.
Other notable transactions include Cenveo’s divestiture of its PrintXcel and Printegra subsidiaries, both sold to Ennis. Cenveo and Ennis each claim that the move furthers their respective strategic plans. AGI World merged with Shorewood Packaging to form the new AGI-Shorewood, a global packaging powerhouse backed by the private equity fund Atlas Holdings.
We are experiencing a bit of déjà vu as the roll-up strategy appears to be returning to the printing industry. For the second month in a row, ArborOakland Group made The Target Report, acquiring North American Reprographics, advised by the masters of the printing roll-up, the folks now at New Direction Partners. A new player, Ovation Graphics, has emerged on the scene in Texas, purchasing the assets of the venerable Branch-Smith Printing company. Ovation’s press release articulated its vision to be a “growing family of printing companies that stretches from coast to coast and is involved in numerous areas of the printing industry.” The roll-up has returned.
For the second month in a row, we could not find one printing or packaging company that filed for protection under the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy code, nor did we find any that filed for liquidation under Chapter 7. This good news for the industry is consistent with recent reports that a greater percentage of printers in the US reported increased profits during the fourth quarter of 2011, more printers plan to hire additional employees, and more printers expect revenues to increase.
There were two major bankruptcies in January that are indicative of the undeniable and systemic changes taking place in the dissemination of information and images. A Canadian manufacturer of newsprint, Catalyst Paper Corp, operating in Canada under the Canadian equivalent of U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed for protection from its U.S. creditors under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code. The biggest bankruptcy news in January, in and out of the printing industry, was Kodak’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. For those involved in the printing industry, it is notable that Kodak’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy hinges on an increased focus on digital printing, including home photo printers, commercial inkjet presses, workflow software and packaging.
| 2012 January - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries | |||||||||||||
Deal Party #1 (Surviving Entity) |
Pre-Deal Revenues ($Mil ) |
Party #1 Address |
Deal Party #2 |
Pre-Deal Revenues ($Mil ) |
Party #2 Address |
Date Deal Public |
Deal Value ($Mil) |
Deal Structure (Intermediary) |
Notes |
Press Releases |
|||
| Allegra Network LLC | $300.0 | Plymouth, MI | Signs By Tomorrow, Inc | $70.0 | Columbia, MD | 1/30/12 | No Data | Assets
Acquisition (Newco formed) |
Signs, wraps and banners | Link | |||
| GPM | No Data | Rohnert Park | Impress Northwestern | No Data | Santa Rosa, CA | 1/30/12 | No Data | Merger | Offset,
digital. ($7.5Mil combined rev.) |
Link | |||
| Ennis Inc | $550.0 | Midlothian, TX | PrintXcel
and Printegra (Subsidiaries of Cenveo) |
$80.0 | Stamford, CT | 1/30/12 | No Data | Not Disclosed | Forms & Documents | Link | |||
| PrintingForLess.com | No Data | Livingston, MT | Southwest Color | No Data | Tucson, AZ | 1/25/12 | No Data | Assets Acquisition | Digital & Variable Data Printing | Link | |||
| Blackstreet Capital Partners | No Data | Chevy Chase, MD | AlphaGraphics, Inc. | No Data | Salt Lake City, UT | 1/18/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Print franchise system | Link | |||
| The Sheridan Group | $266.2 | Hunt Valley, MD | Content Delivery Alliance | N/A | UK, Australia, Singapore, N. Zealand | 1/16/12 | No Data | Strategic Alliance | Global
Distribute-Then-Print Network |
Link | |||
| Vision Graphics, Inc. | No Data | Loveland, CO | Eagle:XM | No Data | Denver, CO | 1/13/12 | No Data | Stock Purchase | Data-driven mktg services | Link | |||
| Electronics for Imaging (EFI) | $5,040 | Foster City, CA | Cretaprint | No Data | Castellon, Spain | 1/10/12 | $52.0 | Acquisition | Printing
on ceramic tiles. $31 Mil + $21 Mil earnout |
Link | |||
| ArborOakland Group | No Data | Royal Oak, MI | North American Reproductions | No Data | Livonia, MI | 1/9/12 | No Data | Acquisition (New Direction) |
Short run, on-demand textbook | Link | |||
| Arbor Investments | No Data | Chicago, IL | Great Lakes Packaging | No Data | Germantown, WI | 1/9/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Corrugated pckg & display | Link | |||
| BRD Printing | No Data | Lansing, MI | EP Images | No Data | Lansing, MI | 1/5/12 | No Data | Assets Acquisition | Commercial printers | Link | |||
| Ovation Graphics | No Data | Fort Worth, TX | Branch-Smith Printing | $15.3 | Fort Smith, TX | 1/5/12 | No Data | Assets Acquisition | Commercial printers | Link | |||
| Burton & Mayer | $13.0 | Menomonee
Falls, WI |
Angel Lithographing | $3.0 | Sturtevant, WI | 1/5/12 | No Data | Tuck-in
of Sales (New Direction) |
Commercial printers | Link | |||
| Foresight Group | No Data | Lansing, MI | Huron Valley Printing | No Data | Pittsfield, MI | 1/5/12 | No Data | Merger | Short run offset & digital | Link | |||
| Xerox Corp. | $22,500 | Norwalk, CT | LaserNetworks | No Data | Oakville, ON (CN) | 1/4/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Managed Print Services | Link | |||
| AGI
World (AGI-Shorewood) |
No Data | Melrose Park, IL | Shorewood Packaging | No Data | Stamford, CT | 1/3/12 | No Data | Merger | Global packaging business | Link | |||
| Classic Graphics | $50.0 | Charlotte, NC | Harperprints | No Data | Henderson, NC | 1/2/12 | No Data | Assets Acquisition | Offset, digital | Link | |||
| 2012 January - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries | ||||||||||||
Filing Party |
Date Case Filed |
Pre-Petition Revenues ($Mil ) |
Case # |
Filing Party Address |
Circuit |
Region & City |
Judge |
Attorney for Debtor |
Notes |
|||
| Eastman Kodak Company | 1/19/12 | $6,000.0 | 12-10202 | Rochester, NY | 2nd | Southern
NY New York |
Allan L. Gropper | Andrew G. Dietderich | Plan to emerge w/ digital print strategy. | |||
| Catalyst Paper Corp | 1/18/12 | $1,228.6 | 12-10221 | Richmond, BC (CN) | 3rd | Delaware Wilmington |
Peter J. Walsh | Van C. Durrer, II | Newsprint
manufacturer, Chapter 15 filing. |
|||
