EFI, which has a significant portfolio of print-related management information systems (MIS) and, as we noted in December 2011, had acquired a German MIS company, is back on our deal log with the acquisition of Metrics Sistemas de Informacao, a Brazilian provider of MIS solutions for the printing and packaging industries.
RR Donnelley continued adding electronic media services with its investment in CoffeeTable, a catalog shopping app for Apples’ iPad. Danaher, a large industrial conglomerate not usually associated with the printing industry, acquired X-Rite, known to printers as a manufacturer of color measurement devices. Since X-Rite in turn owns Pantone, which sets color standards, Danaher is now a major player in the printing and packaging industries.
Print production companies in a variety of sectors announced transactions, with several acquisitions occurring in commercial printing, and deals closing in digital book manufacturing, POP displays, marketing services and bindery services.
We found nine bankruptcy filings during the month of April. As with the M&A deals, bankruptcy filings occurred in several sectors, including a paper merchant, Paragon Papers, Inc., and a packaging and fulfillment company, Packaging Systems, Inc., each filing for reorganization under Chapter 11. Ambassador Media Group, LLC, a publisher of yellow page directories in the metro New York City area, filed for liquidation under Chapter 7, having survived its initial Chapter 11 proceeding, originally filed in 2009.*
Not listed in the deal log, but worthy of mention, is the closing of the former Mack Printing plant in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region. Recently part of Cenveo’s Cadmus Specialty Publications division, the plant operated for over 100 years, with many local folks spending their entire working career at this factory. At one point, the company employed almost 1,000 workers, eventually reduced to just 195 employees when the closing was announced. With a focus on short- to medium-run professional and trade journals, many of which have migrated to strictly online publication, the factory had apparently run its course and was no longer competitive.
* Note: The Brownstein Corporation provided services to Ambassador Media Group (AMG), subsequent to the confirmation of the company’s plan of reorganization in 2010, reporting on covenant compliance to the company’s lender. Brownstein Corporation was also engaged by AMG to seek a buyer of the company. Ultimately, AMG management elected to file voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidate.
| 2012 April - 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 |
|||
| Atlas
Holdings (Soundview Paper Co.) |
No Data | Greenwich, CT | Marcal Paper Mills | No Data | Elmwood Park, NJ | 4/24/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Household paper products. | Link | |||
| Spectrum Print Communications | No Data | Orlando, FL | DeRoo Printing Services | No Data | Casselberry, FL | 4/18/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Commercial printing. | Link | |||
| Watermill Group | No Data | Lexington, MA | Manistique Papers | No Data | Manistique, MI | 4/17/12 | No Data | Asset sale in bankruptcy | 100% Recycled paper mfg. | Link | |||
| Integrated
Book Technology (IBT/Hamilton) |
$19.0 | Troy, NY | Hamilton Printing | No Data | Castleton, NY | 4/17/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Digital
Book / Web Offset ($30Mil combined revenue) |
Link | |||
| Tensor International | No Data | Woodridge, IL | Tensor Group | No Data | Woodridge, IL | 4/17/12 | No Data | Assets Acquisition | Press manufacturer | Link | |||
| TorQuest Partners | No Data | Toronto, ON | Array Marketing Group | No Data | Toronto, ON | 4/16/12 | No Data | Acquisition | POP Displays | Link | |||
| North Plains | No Data | Toronto, ON | Xinet | No Data | Berkeley, CA | 4/12/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Digital Asset Management | Link | |||
| Princeton Companies | No Data | Robbinsville, NJ | Phoenix Marketing Services | No Data | Claremont, CA | 4/11/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Marketing services, offset & digital print, fullfillment | Link | |||
| Allied Group | No Data | Cranston, RI | United Printing | No Data | Warwick, RI | 4/12/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Commercial
printing ($22Mil combined revenue) |
Link | |||
| E&M Bindery | No Data | Clifton, NJ | Finish On Demand | No Data | Lancaster, PA | 4/11/12 | No Data | Strategic Partnership | High-volume & short-run binderies | Link | |||
| Danaher | $16,091 | Washington, DC | X-Rite
(inc. Pantone) (NASDAQ: XRIT) |
$237.6 | Grand Rapids, MI | 4/10/12 | $625.0 | Acquisition | Color measurement technology | Link | |||
| Electronics for Imaging (EFI) | $591.6 | Foster City, CA | Metrics Sistemas de Informacao | No Data | Sao Paulo, Brazil | 4/10/12 | No Data | Acquisition | MIS systems for Printing & Packaging | Link | |||
| Custom Printing | No Data | Oxnard, CA | Ojai Printing | No Data | Ojai, CA | 4/5/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Commercial printing | Link | |||
| Omaha Print | No Data | Omaha, NE | Holm Graphic | No Data | Des Moines, IA | 4/4/12 | No Data | Client
Acquisition (NAPL) |
Commercial printing | Link | |||
| Kirkwood
Holdings (Kirkwood Printing) |
$43.0 | Wilmington, MA | Nu Graphics, Etc. | No Data | Woburn, MA | 4/4/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Commercial printing | Link | |||
| RR Donnelley | $10,018 | Chicago, IL | CoffeeTable | No Data | San Francisco, CA | 4/3/12 | No Data | Equity stake | Catalog shopping App for iPad | Link | |||
| 2012 April - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries | ||||||||||||
Filing Party |
Date Case Filed |
Pre-Petition Revenues ($Mil ) |
Case # |
Filing Party Address |
Circuit |
Region & City |
Judge |
Attorney for Debtor |
Notes |
|||
| Chapter 11 Filings: | ||||||||||||
| Martin
Lithograph, Inc. (DBA MLI Integrated Graphics Solutions) |
4/24/12 | No Data | 12-06199 | Tampa, FL | 11th | Middle
FL Tampa, FL |
Catherine
Peek McEwen |
Curran K. Porto | Commercial printing | |||
| Paragon Paper, Inc. | 4/17/12 | No Data | 12-19955 | Sicklerville, NJ | 3rd | New
Jersey Camden, NJ |
Judith H. Wizmur | Jason C Manfrey | Paper merchants | |||
| Keystone Printing Ink Co. | 4/16/12 | No Data | 12-13707 | Philadelphia, PA | 3rd | Eastern
PA Philadelphia, PA |
Jean K. FitzSimon | Allen B. Dubroff | Printing ink | |||
| Alternative
Graphics, Inc. (DBA Wilson Graphics) |
4/3/12 | No Data | 12-11378 | Santa Barbara, CA | 9th | Central
CA Santa Barbara, CA |
Robin Riblet | William C. Beall | Commercial printing | |||
| Packaging Systems LLC | 4/3/12 | No Data | 12-18864 | Keasbey, NJ | 3rd | New
Jersey Trenton, NJ |
Raymond T. Lyons Jr | Bruce J. Wisotsky | Packaging, filling, fulfillment | |||
| Chapter 7 Filings: | ||||||||||||
| Blue
Water Press, Inc. (DBA Easterly & Co.) |
4/23/12 | No Data | 12-32953 | Houston, TX | 5th | Southern
TX Houston, TX |
David R. Jones | Matthew Scott Okin | Graphic & communcation services | |||
| Baldwin Press | 4/20/12 | No Data | 12-32504 | Dallas, TX | 5th | Northern
TX Dallas, TX |
Stacey G. Jernigan | Baldwin
Press Pro Se |
Commercial printing | |||
| AD2 Advertising and Printing, Inc. | 4/10/12 | No Data | 12-13030 | Framingham, MA | 1st | Massachusetts Boston, MA |
Frank J. Bailey | Catherine Becker Good | Web-based print broker | |||
| Ambassador Media Group, LLC | 4/6/12 | No Data | 12-11445 | New York, NY | 2nd | Southern
NY New York, NY |
Robert E. Gerber | Tracy L. Klestadt | Yellow page directory publisher | |||
