Not surprisingly, companies that are in the content creation business continue to divest the printing assets upon which their businesses once rested, choosing instead to focus on their core competency, namely the creation of the content. In a deal that demonstrates this, Brunswick Publishing, the publisher of The Times Record in Brunswick, Maine, spun off its printing facility, now known as Alliance Press.
The MultiAd Company, originally a supplier of “cut and paste” art for advertisers, sold off its printing division to The Brandt Company, a commercial printer. In 1983, MultiAd acquired its first four color press, a Heidelberg, for its own use, and subsequently entered the commercial printing business in 1992. As recently as 2005, the company was still investing in printing equipment, purchasing a 40” perfecting press. With the majority of its services now offered digitally, and with the sale of its printing assets, the company will outsource its ink-on-paper requirements.
In another deal illustrating the divestiture of printing-related assets, ANET Global solutions elected to focus on e-commerce and fulfillment, selling its American Mailers subsidiary to the direct mail specialist, Johnson & Quin. Lest anyone think that Johnson & Quin is neglecting digital media, the company president made sure to mention QR codes, customized microsites and mobile or email messaging in the press release announcing the acquisition.
On the distressed side of the ledger, Chapter 11’s are back on our deal log this month; however, we continue to observe, as we did in our June report, that, given the stresses on the printing industry, we might expect more companies to file for bankruptcy protection and seek to reorganize. One company that did file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July was National Litho, LLC, located in Miami Lakes, Florida. The company, reportedly one of the largest Hispanic-owned businesses in North America, continues to operate and is actively seeking interim financing and a buyer for the business.*
In a sign that the diversification strategy of evolving from a printer to a “marketing service provider” (MSP) has matured, is more competitive, and may no longer be a sure thing (if it ever was), the list of companies filing for bankruptcy includes several companies providing many of the buzz word services, including “transpromo”, “display graphics”, “wide format”, “banners” and “fulfillment services.” During our research, we found several companies that filed bankruptcy that had offered purely digital marketing services, and we listed one as an example, One to One Global in Boston, Massachusetts. Printers that that are planning to add extensively to their menu of services may want to view these company failures as cautionary signals, and think carefully about whether the market is ready to digest what they are planning to serve.
* Note: The Author of the Target Report serves as Senior Advisor to The Brownstein Corporation. The Brownstein Corporation is Financial Advisor to National Litho, LLC, and is seeking financing and/or prospective buyers for the company, under the supervision of the Court.
| 2012 July - 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 |
|||
| Sir Speedy of Westbury | No Data | Westbury, NY | Sir Speedy | No Data | Syosset, NY | 7/31/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Franchise | Link | |||
| Brandt Co. | No Data | Davenport, IA | Multi-Ad | No Data | Peoria, IL | 7/30/12 | No Data | Divestiture | Sale of printing division | Link | |||
| Everest Group (PE Firm) | No Data | Omaha, NE | ExpressCopy.com | No Data | Portland, OR | 7/26/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Direct mail postcards | Link | |||
| CCL Industries | $1,268 (CN) | Toronto, ON | Pharmaceutical
Division of Graphitype Printing Services |
$7.3 (AUD) | Sydney, Australia | 7/20/12 | $7.0 (AUD) | Acquisition - Partial | Sale of pharma label division | Link | |||
| Johnson & Quin | $23.7 | Niles, IL | American Mailers | No Data | Naperville, IL | 7/19/12 | No Data | Divestiture | Sale of printing division | Link | |||
| Marquis Book Printing | No Data | Cap-Saint-Ignace, QC | Transcontinental | $2,043 | Montreal, QC | 7/20/12 | No Data | Acquisition - Partial | Sale of 2 book printing plants | Link | |||
| Pearson | £5,900 | London, UK | Author
Solutions (Bertram Capital) |
$100.0 | Bloomington, IN | 7/19/12 | $116.0 | Acquisition | Self-publishing services | Link | |||
| Inverness Graham Investments | No Data | Newtown Square, PA | DataSource | No Data | Kansas City, MO | 7/13/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Print management services | Link | |||
| Alliance Press | No Data | Brunswick, ME | Brunswick Publishing | No Data | Brunswick, ME | 7/12/12 | No Data | Divestiture | Sale of printing division | Link | |||
| Custom Index | No Data | Totowa, NJ | Thompson Paper Products | No Data | Houston, TX | 7/12/12 | No Data | Acquisition | File folder products | Link | |||
| Spiral James Burn | No Data | Totowa, NJ | Northeast Binding Systems | No Data | Pleasantville, NY | 7/12/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Presentation products | Link | |||
| Taylor
Corporation (Venture Solutions) |
No Data | North Mankato, MN | Venture Encoding | No Data | Fort Worth, TX | 7/10/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Financial marketing | Link | |||
| Beat Studios | No Data | Chicago, IL | Centermark Graphics | No Data | Chicago, IL | 7/10/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Prepress & print mngt. | Link | |||
| Investcorp | No Data | New York, NY | Archway Marketing Services | No Data | Rogers, MN | 7/9/12 | $300.0 | Acquisition | Fulfillment & Print Mngt. | Link | |||
| Mount Royal Printing | No Data | Baltimore, MD | Fannon Fine Printing | No Data | Alexandria, VA | 7/2/12 | No Data | Acquisition NAPL |
Commercial Printing | Link | |||
| 2012 July - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries | ||||||||||||
Filing Party |
Date Case Filed |
Pre-Petition Revenues ($Mil ) |
Case # |
Filing Party Address |
Circuit |
Region & City |
Judge |
Attorney for Debtor |
Notes |
|||
| Chapter 11 Filings: | ||||||||||||
| National Litho, LLC | 7/22/12 | No Data | 12-27566 | Miami Lakes, FL | 11th | Southern
FL Miami |
Laurel M. Isicoff | Luis Salazar | Commercial printing, web & sheetfed | |||
| One2One Communications, LLC | 7/10/12 | No Data | 12-27311 | Hackettstown, NJ | 3rd | New
Jersey Newark |
Novalyn L. Winfield | Richard D. Trenk | Transpromo document processing | |||
| Aitdigital, LLC | 7/4/12 | No Data | 12-23246 | Orangeburg, NY | 2nd | Southern
NY White Plains |
Robert D. Drain | Rosemarie E. Matera | Retail display & vehicle wraps | |||
| Chapter 7 Filings: | ||||||||||||
| Empire Signs and Graphics, Inc. | 7/31/12 | No Data | 12-12030 | Clifton Park, NY | 2nd | Northern
NY Albany |
Robert E. Littlefield Jr. | Brian H. Bronsther | Signs & banners | |||
| One to One Global, Inc. | 7/31/12 | No Data | 12-16382 | Boston, MA | 1st | Massachusetts Boston |
William C. Hillman | James Tucker Bradley | Digital marketing, web, social media | |||
| Manhattan Color, Inc. | 7/30/12 | No Data | 12-45539 | Long Island City, NY | 2nd | Eastern
NY Brooklyn |
Jerome Feller | M. David Graubard | Commercial printing | |||
| Micron Paper, Inc. | 7/30/12 | No Data | 12-35995 | La Puente, CA | 9th | Central
CA Los Angeles |
Thomas B. Donovan | Jason J.L. Yang | Signs & banners | |||
| Westlake Graphics, Inc. | 7/16/12 | No Data | 12-28042 | Bloomingdale, IL | 7th | Northern
IL Chicago |
Donald R Cassling | David E Grochocinski | Design, print brokering | |||
| Pacific
Printing & Fulfillment (DBA Pacific Printing & Publications, Inc.) |
7/9/12 | No Data | 12-32724 | Folsom, CA | 9th | Eastern
CA Sacramento |
Robert S. Bardwil | Philip J. Rhodes | Printing & fulfillment services | |||
