I have been wondering when the expansion into wide format printing by so many commercial printers would catch up with the industry. Formerly a niche offering served by specialty shops, adding wide format capabilities has become the “strategy du jour.” This approach has been touted in industry publications and enabled by increasingly sophisticated, but easy to use, inkjet devices. We have noted several small sign shops that closed over the past year and, in September, a much larger player in the wide and grand format business developed corporate indigestion. Image Transform, located in Des Moines, Iowa, filed for Chapter 11 after more than 35 years draping buildings, wrapping buses and serving up all sorts of wide format products.
The Journal Register Company, publisher of multiple newspapers, filed Chapter 11 for the second time in just four years, also affectionately known in bankruptcy circles as a “Chapter 22.” Several publishers that are related to the Journal Register Company also filed for bankruptcy (we only listed the parent company in the deal log). The company reports that it has a “stalking horse” credit bid lined up, and that it expects to emerge from bankruptcy this time as a healthy company. Another publisher, Rural Newspapers, headquartered in Tennessee and much smaller than the Journal Register Company, gave up and filed for Chapter 7 liquidation. In another transaction indicative of the ongoing struggle for survival in the newspaper industry, White Birch Paper Company, maker of newsprint paper, announced that it had completed its restructuring with the support of private equity fund Black Diamond Capital. Vertis, the financially challenged publisher of ubiquitous newsprint advertising inserts, monetized non-core assets and sold SGS International, its prepress company that specializes in packaging.
Our research found two commercial printers that voluntarily filed for protection of the bankruptcy court, hoping to wash away their debt and emerge cleansed and ready to compete once again. Two small commercial printers threw in the towel and filed for liquidation under Chapter 7. In a move that reportedly surprised its employees, Finlay Printing, a highly respected commercial printer in Bloomfield, Connecticut, washed out and closed its doors after more than 135 years in business.
In separate deals that do not appear to be distress acquisitions, two packaging printers acquired non-packaging companies, adding new services. Private equity-backed industry powerhouse WS Packaging Group acquired Business Graphics Printing, a very small commercial printer in Knoxville, Tennessee, reportedly for the company’s product insert printing capabilities. In another transaction, Salem Printing, a flexo commercial and packaging printer, acquired direct mail printer Advanced Direct in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Continuing the trend towards diversification of services in the printing industry, two deals were announced in which industry-disruptive, print-centric companies acquired firms that offer promotional products. Innerworkings, the wildly successful intermediation company, purchased Merchandize Mania, a UK-based firm which provides corporate promotional merchandise to clients in Europe and Asia. Shutterfly, which identifies itself as the “leading Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service,” bought Penguin Digital. The acquired company uses proprietary apps that enable consumers to order individual personal items printed with images downloaded directly from mobile devices. Although they serve very different markets, one corporate and the other consumer, we see these two companies and their recent acquisitions as prime examples of the new strategies for prospering in printing and related industries.
| 2012 September - 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 |
|||
| WS Packaging Group | No Data | Green Bay, WI | Business Graphics Printing | No Data | Knoxville, TN | 9/28/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Commercial printing & inserts | Link | |||
| SGS International | No Data | Louisville, KY | Vertis | $1,200 | Baltimore, MD | 9/20/12 | No Data | Acquisition - Partial | Packaging prepress | Link | |||
| BD White Birch Investment LLC | No Data | Greenwich, CT | White Birch Paper Company | No Data | Quebec City, QC | 9/18/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Newsprint paper mfg. | Link | |||
| H.I.G. Europe | No Data | London, UK | Vacumet Paper | No Data | Franklin, MA | 9/17/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Metallized Papers | Link | |||
| Shutterfly | $91.3 | Redwood City, CA | Penguin Digital | No Data | New York, NY | 9/17/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Promotional items photo app | Link | |||
| Innerworkings | $633.0 | San Francisco, CA | Merchandise Mania | £6.0 | UK | 9/12/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Promotional items | Link | |||
| RR Donnelley | $10,611 | Chicago, IL | Express Postal Options | No Data | Torrance, CA | 9/10/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Mailing services | Link | |||
| Salem Printing | No Data | Winston-Salem, NC | Advanced Direct | No Data | Greensboro, NC | 9/5/12 | No Data | Acquisition | Flexo packaging & direct mail | Link | |||
| Acme Bookbinding | No Data | Boston, MA | HF Group | No Data | N. Manchester, IN | 9/1/12 | No Data | Merger | Bookbinding | Link | |||
| 2012 September - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries | ||||||||||||
Filing Party |
Date Case Filed |
Pre-Petition Revenues ($Mil ) |
Case # |
Filing Party Address |
Circuit |
Region & City |
Judge |
Attorney for Debtor |
Notes |
|||
| Chapter 11 Filings: | ||||||||||||
| Ultimate Print Source, Inc. | 9/28/12 | No Data | 12-32250 | Ontario, CA | 9th | Central
CA Riverside |
Mark D. Houle | Stephen W. Johnson | Commercial printing | |||
| Image Transform, Ltd. | 9/21/12 | No Data | 12-02967 | Grimes, IA | 8th | Southern
IA Des Moines |
Anita L. Shodeen | Michael P. Mallaney | Grand format & display printing | |||
| Total Printing Services, Inc. | 9/10/12 | No Data | 12-60540 | Van Buren, MI | 6th | Eastern
MI Detroit |
Walter Shapero | Jason Patrick Smalarz | Stationary printing | |||
| Journal Register | 9/5/12 | No Data | 12-13774 | Yardley, PA | 2nd | Southern
NY New York |
Stuart M. Bernstein | Neil E. Herman | Newspapers & web-based news | |||
| Newcomb Print Communications | 9/5/12 | No Data | 12-08042 | Harbert, MI | 6th | Western
MI Grand Rapids |
Scott W. Dales | Donald C. Darnell | Commercial printing | |||
| Chapter 7 Filings: | ||||||||||||
| Brasil Printing Corp. | 9/25/12 | No Data | 12-14032 | Bronx. NY | 2nd | Southern
NY New York |
Burton R. Lifland | Pro Se | Printing & copying | |||
| Lithographic Technologies, Inc. | 9/20/12 | No Data | 12-15655 | Woodbridge, VA | 4th | Eastern
VA Alexandria |
Brian F. Kenney | Steven B. Ramsdell | Commercial printing | |||
| Rural Newspapers, Inc. | 9/7/12 | No Data | 12-08199 | Red Boiling Springs, TN | 6th | Middle
TN Nashville |
Keith M. Lundin | Steven L. Lefkovitz | Community newspapers | |||
