Upfront

RR Donnelley Obtains XPO

CHICAGO—RR Donnelley has further expanded its logistics service offering with the acquisition of Express Postal Options International (XPO), a privately-held company based in Torrance, CA. XPO provides international outbound mailing services to pharmaceutical, e-commerce, financial services, information technology, catalog, direct mail and other businesses.

PIA-NAPL Merger Called Off

PITTSBURGH—The joint Unification Task Force, formed last February to study the possible merger of the Printing Industries of America, based here, with the National Association for Printing Leadership, has ended merger talks. The respective groups have decided to remain independent, but will continue to collaborate on various programs and partnerships.

Book Binders Join Forces

CHARLESTOWN, MA—Acme Bookbinding, located here, and The HF Group (HFG) of Chesterland, OH, have merged. The family-owned business, which will continue to operate from their respective locations under their current names, specialize in trade and edition binding, library binding, leather hand binding, book and paper conservation, and digital printing and binding.

MAI Acquires Presstek

HUDSON, NH—Presstek Inc., a supplier of digital offset printing solutions, has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by MAI Holdings, an entity affiliated with American Industrial Partners (AIP) Capital Fund IV. As part of the agreement—which has been approved by Presstek's board of directors, as well as the company's largest shareholder—Presstek shareholders will receive $0.50 in cash for each share of common stock that they own.

InnerWorkings Makes Pact

MCLEAN, VA—Gannett Co. has entered into a partnership for InnerWorkings Inc. to exclusively manage print procurement and print management for Gannett's non-newspaper print products such as direct mail, marketing collateral, inserts and select publications, among other items. The agreement is part of the ongoing Gannett Publishing Services initiative to consolidate and drive efficiencies within the production and distribution of its printed products.

Five Presses for InnoMark

MIAMISBURG, OH—InnoMark Communications has installed five HP Scitex digital printing systems: a Scitex FB7600 industrial press, a Scitex LX850, an XP5500 and two FB700 industrial printers. The company focuses on high-end retail, POP and packaging applications, ranging from one-off jobs to high-volume projects for clients.

Transcon Wins Extension

MONTREAL—TC Transcontinental Printing has hammered out a C$250 million contract with Rogers to print its marketing products and magazines. The contract extension applies to two pacts and runs through 2019. The deals cover the printing of the entire Rogers portfolio of publications for consumers, the business community and professionals; the printing of Rogers' marketing products; as well as direct mail delivery of the products.

Key Publishers, SFI Partner

MILWAUKEE—Four major North American publishers are partnering with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) to spur the growth of certification to help preserve and protect forests. Time Inc., the National Geographic Society, Macmillan and Pearson will become founding partners of the SFI Forest Partners Program. The alliance was announced at the recent SFI annual conference held here. PI