UPFRONT
Bowne Buys Alliance Affiliate
NEW YORK—Bowne & Co. has pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire Alliance Data Mail Services (ADS MB), an affiliate of Alliance Data Systems. Terms of the deal were not revealed. ADS MB, which posts annual revenues of $36 million, provides personalized customer communications and intelligent inserting and commingling capabilities for the financial services, healthcare, retail, government and utilities sectors.
Taylor Brands Three Entities
MANKATO, MN—Taylor Corp. has merged its three independent entities—Carlson Craft Business Solutions, Regency and Label Works—under one unified brand called Navitor. Tom Ninneman, vice president of operations, said the merged entity would better serve customers “by providing a breadth of offerings and focusing on the qualities that have made each company a long-standing leader in the field.” The company will operate as Navitor beginning in January.
New Facility for Multi-Color
SHARONVILLE, OH—Multi-Color Corp. is expanding its manufacturing operations with the purchase of a 247,000-square-foot facility in Batavia, OH. The company plans to consolidate its current plants in Batavia and Troy, OH, into the new building over the next few months. The state-of-the-art facility will create a platform for the future in order to take advantage of long-term growth opportunities in the decorative label industry.
Geyer Locates Better Home
PITTSBURGH—Geyer Printing, a Consolidated Graphics (CGX) company, will relocate to another facility near downtown Pittsburgh. Its old location in the city was a triangular, multi-level building that was not conducive to the company’s long-term growth plans, according to Scott Barthel-mes, president of Geyer Printing. The new, single-story plant boasts 50,700 square feet of space.
Stone Publishing Makes Deal
SANTA CLARA, CA—Stone Publishing has acquired Offsite Fulfillment Services of Redwood City, CA, which provides print-on-demand collateral via online ordering. The deal was the fourth for Stone Publishing since 2001. In that time, the printer has also obtained Almaden Press, Amazing Graphics and House of Printing. Stone offers a wide range of products and services, from digital printing to high-volume litho printing, packaging, mailing and fulfillment capabilities.
New Name, Services for Royal
NEW YORK—With an eye toward its ever-changing product dossier, Royal Impressions has changed its name to RI Communications Group. Its new tagline will be “Creating More Relevant Interactions.” Along with the new name, RI Communications is adding new services such as data analytics to identify unique buyer segments within customer databases, so that content and offers can be more finely targeted.
Triangle Printing Active Again
SKOKIE, IL—Triangle Printing made its second deal of the year, acquiring Advantage Printing of Addison, IL. Terms of the transaction were not revealed. The addition enables Triangle to compete in the greeting card, tourism and insurance markets. Triangle acquired Chicago Graphics in May.
Wausau Closing NH Mill
MOSINEE, WI—On the heels of its Printing & Writing papers division suffering a third quarter operating loss of $1.3 million, Wausau Paper announced it will permanently close its Groveton, NH, mill at year’s end. The move will result in the loss of 300 jobs. The closure will reduce production capacity by 28 percent. Wausau will incur pre-tax closure charges of $72 million.
Chizen Exits Adobe CEO Post
SAN JOSE, CA—Bruce Chizen has stepped down as CEO of Adobe Systems, months after the embattled leader was sharply criticized for the company’s decision to implement a “send to FedEx/Kinko’s” button in its Acrobat and Reader products. President and COO Shantanu Narayen replaced Chizen, who led Adobe for seven years.
Trend Secures Magazine Pact
LOS ALAMITOS, CA—TheHomeMag has entered into a long-term partnership with Trend Offset Printing to accelerate the expansion of its nationwide portfolio of corporate and franchised magazines. Starting in January, TheHomeMag will make full use of Trend’s national platform by placing its publications, which target the home improvement and decor idea segment, across all Trend facilities. Plants in Jacksonville, FL; Carrollton, TX; and Los Alamitos, CA; will play vital production roles for premedia, printing, finishing and mailing TheHomeMag titles.
RR Donnelley Raises Guidance
CHICAGO—Bolstered by increased sales and a lower tax rate, RR Donnelley’s third quarter net income rose 6 percent as the company raised its 2007 outlook for adjusted earnings to between $2.85 to $2.88 a share from the previous forecast of $2.70 to $2.75 a share. Donnelley reported third-quarter 2007 net earnings of $175 million or $0.80 per diluted share on net sales of $2.9 billion compared to net earnings of $164.7 million or $0.75 per diluted share on net sales of $2.3 billion in the third quarter of 2006.
Christie’s Auctions ‘Potter’ Book
NEW YORK—A hardcover edition of J.K. Rowling’s first novel in the “Harry Potter” saga pulled down more than $40,000 at a Christie’s auction here recently. The first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was signed “Joanne Rowling” on the back of the title page, according to The Associated Press. Published by Bloomsbury plc with an initial print run of 500 copies, the book is extremely difficult to find in top condition because many libraries purchased copies. PI
