RPI Accelerates Strategy to Become Global Leader of Personalized Print Solutions with Acquisition of Blurb
Reischling Press, Inc. (RPI), a pioneer in the personalized print services market, has acquired Blurb, an industry-leading e-commerce platform of print-on-demand books, magazines, wall décor, and digital services for self-publishers and creative professionals, the company announced today.
The acquisition extends RPI’s overall strategy to offer a full suite of services and e-commerce platform solutions to businesses around the world, said Rick Bellamy, CEO of RPI.
Rick Bellamy
“This is a strategic acquisition for us and culminates the long-term partnership between our two companies,” Bellamy said. “Blurb’s primary audiences are creative professionals and self-publishers, and this acquisition leverages the strengths of each organization to deliver a comprehensive e-commerce print solution for professionals, businesses, and consumer brands.”
RPI and Blurb have partnered together for years in the publishing and personalization market, with their business relationship beginning in 2005. Blurb was the enabling customer for RPI’s acquisition of Paro in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 2011.
“RPI has produced the vast majority of Blurb’s volume for years,” Bellamy said. “Therefore, our overall customer base will continue to receive RPI’s focus and commitment to an excellent customer experience. We plan to expand our capabilities across our existing in-house and partner network platforms to service our customers through our operational excellence.”
Rix Kramlich, CEO of Blurb, will become general manager of RPI’s new eCommerce division.
“Becoming part of RPI is a natural next step for Blurb,” Kramlich said. “It will enable us to focus on and accelerate improvements in the things that our users love about Blurb - our world-class creation tools as well as the breadth and quality of our printed products.”
Blurb will become an RPI company and continue to maintain offices in San Francisco and the UK. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many RPI and Blurb employees are working remotely at this time and will do so for the foreseeable future. Other terms of the deal, including acquisition price, were not disclosed.
This is the fourth acquisition for RPI. In 2019, RPI acquired the assets of SoftPrint Holdings, which accelerated RPI’s ability to deliver expanded services for product builders, increased manufacturing capacity, and reduced delivery times for RPI’s customer base. It also expanded the company’s geographic distribution footprint.
In 2013, the company acquired DPI, an Atlanta-based company that provides web-to-print, on-demand products and services for business-to-business customers. In 2011, RPI acquired Paro, a company based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, that provides print products for the corporate and consumer markets in Europe.
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