UPFRONT
Transcontinental Nabs Pact
MONTREAL—Transcontinental signed an exclusive 15-year contract with Hearst Corp. to print the San Francisco Chronicle, related products, and to provide postpress services. The deal is worth in excess of $1 billion. Transcontinental will start production in the spring of 2009 at a new, state-of-the-art Bay Area plant. The printer’s planned investments for the building and new gear are estimated at more than $200 million. The Chronicle, one of 12 daily newspapers owned by Hearst, has the 14th largest ABC-verified circulation in the United States, according to Transcontinental.
Quebecor World Ups Co-mailing
MONTREAL—Quebecor World is expanding the co-mailing offering at its new Bolingbrook, IL, plant by 50 percent via the purchase of a 30-pocket co-mail machine. The machine is expected to come online in the first quarter of 2007 and will allow magazine publishers and catalogers to reduce their postal costs and improve delivery.
Valpak Seeks Print Workers
ST. PETERSBURG, FL—Direct marketing coupon specialist Valpak is seeking to fill numerous positions at its new manufacturing center here, which is slated to go live in 2007. Among the positions sought: experienced managers and supervisors, and hourly posts that start at $12 per hour. Prospects can apply online at www.valpakcareers.com. Questions regarding positions can be e-mailed to hr5recruit@coxtarget.com. The $200 million web printing facility will employ about 500 people.
Booklet Binding Obtains Plant
BROADVIEW, IL—Booklet Binding and its Team Services division have purchased a new facility in Carol Stream, IL, that will increase combined capacity by nearly 50 percent. Operations at the company’s two current facilities will be consolidated into the new plant, which is expected to be completed in 2007. The company specializes in graphic finishing, direct mail production and specialty packaging.
BSC Swings Deal for Mailer
ATLANTA—BSC Ventures, based here, has expanded its dossier of acquisitions by obtaining Cincinnati-based Champion Printing, which specializes in direct mail printing. BSC Ventures CEO Brian Sass notes that the deal significantly increases the breadth and range of his company’s product offerings, including two- and three-color short-run direct mail pieces and four-color long-run work. Other members of BSC Ventures include Convertagraphics in Roanoke, VA, and Double Envelope, with facilities in Roanoke and Gainesville, FL.
Manugraph India Buys DGM
MUMBAI, INDIA—Manugraph India has agreed to acquire Dauphin Graphic Machines (DGM) for $19.2 million. The company will be known as Manugraph-DGM. DGM’s manufacturing and sales office in Elizabethville, PA, will be maintained, and executives and managers are expected to remain.
VistaPrint Awarded Patents
LEXINGTON, MA—VistaPrint has been awarded three patents in the United States for its Web-based tools and manufacturing processes. One patent allows a user to prepare and view a document design image that matches the appearance of the document the customer receives in print. Another patent covers methods for job ganging based on individual product size, while a third patent protects VistaPrint’s automatic “smart cropping” technology.
Double Diamond for Buchanan
DALLAS—Buchanan Visual Communica-tions has installed a 12-color Mitsubishi Diamond 3000R convertible perfector with twin coaters. Known as the Double Diamond perfector, the 40˝ sheetfed press incorporates 17 total units, reportedly making it the largest number of units of any commercial sheetfed press in operation. According to David Johnson, president of Buchanan Visual Communications, the ability of the perfector to print six colors and coat both sides of the sheet simultaneously provides his company with a marketplace advantage.
Good Vibe for Quad/Graphics
SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics has signed a multi-year, multimillion dollar agreement with Vibe Media Group for the printing and distribution of VIBE and VIBE Vixen magazines. Quad/Graphics will print approximately 18 million magazines in its plant here. The facility boasts a large capacity for co-mailing publishers’ magazines for increased postal worksharing discounts.
Chemical Spill at Presstek Plant
HUDSON, NH—About 1,500 pounds of sulfuric acid spilled at Presstek’s South Hadley, MA, printing plate production facility on October 30, causing the evacuation of roughly 80 homes and businesses in that town and nearby Granby, MA, as well as the closure of local schools. The cause of the incident is under investigation, according to The Associated Press. Presstek worked closely with Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) crews to clean up the spill. The plant has since re-opened.
Cadmus Inks AAP Contract
RICHMOND, VA—Cadmus Communica-tions has signed a five-year contract with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to provide a full range of outsourced publishing production services for AAP’s leading publications, including services for AAP’s Pediatrics, a medical journal. Other full issue management services to be provided by Cadmus are copy editing, composition, XML coding, printing, binding and distribution of online and printed AAP publications.
GLS Gains Litho Inc. Assets
MINNEAPOLIS—GLS Companies acquired certain assets of Litho Inc., a web and sheetfed printer based in St Paul, MN. GLS Companies is a full-service communications solutions provider. Litho Inc. will continue to operate out of its St. Paul location as an operating division of GLS Companies.
