Burrups Packard Acquires Global Financial

PHILADELPHIA—Hoping to take a huge bite out of the U.S. financial printing market, Burrups Packard, based here, announced that it has acquired key assets of longtime competitor Global Financial Press of New York.

Terms of the acquisition were not revealed. Global Financial Press, a privately held company, entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. The acquisition effectively consolidates the two former competitors and launches Burrups Packard into the $100 million range for financial printing services nationwide and solidifies its lofty standing in the Philadelphia region. Burrups Packard is the U.S.-based financial printing unit of London-based St. Ives plc and Burrups Ltd., Europe's largest printing group.

Under the Global Financial Press asset sale, Burrups Packard will acquire Global Financial's 45,000-square-foot facility at 75 Ninth Avenue in New York City. The facility houses 16 conference rooms, as well as typesetting and commercial printing operations. Additionally, Burrups Packard will acquire Global Financial's document imaging facility and insurance division in the Philadelphia area.

The deal marks the second American acquisition in four months for Burrups, which acquired Packard Press, a 60-year-old Philadelphia financial printing house, in May. Burrups Packard officials said the acquisition would further help to strengthen its presence in the U.S. financial printing market.

"This transaction reflects St. Ives' strategy to grow Burrups Packard into the leading, U.S.-based financial printer," says Joseph Weiss, president of Burrups Packard in Philadelphia. "With Burrups' already strong European presence and this latest U.S. acquisition, we now rank among the four leading financial printing companies in the world. And, in Philadelphia, this acquisition provides us with more than 50 percent of the market and the ability to substantially enhance the services we provide to our clients."

Combined annual revenues for the St. Ives-Burrups Packard printing operation in the U.S. market totals about $150 million with a workforce of more than 900, which includes commercial plants in Cleveland and Hollywood, FL, and a printing plant in Marlton, NJ.