DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—Consolidated Graphics (CGX) and HP have signed a multimillion dollar agreement for the installation of as many as 36 HP Indigo digital presses at facilities in the United States and the Czech Republic this year.The deal includes multiple HP Indigo 7000 digital presses and HP SmartStream Ultra print servers. The initial installations—presses at facilities…
THE YEAR was 1958. A 14-year-old named Bobby Fischer wins the U.S. Chess Championship. Willie O’Ree is the first African-American to play in the National Hockey League. The U.S. Air Force loses a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Savannah, GA, and it’s never found. Poet Ezra Pound is ordered to be released from an insane asylum, and “that book by Nabokov” (“Lolita”) is published in the United States. And, in Philadelphia, a 34-year-old man named Irvin Borowsky published the first issue of Printing Impressions. The industry, this magazine—indeed, our nation and world—have undergone dramatic transformations over the last 50 years. Our publication, just
THERE WILL come a day, sometime soon, when print buyers will come to respect the value that direct mail printers bring to the table in a consulting capacity. As for now, many printers have to be scratching their heads and wondering, “Where’s the love?” Or, better yet, why the lowball? This ain’t a commodity, pal. “I had a client who told me that my printing price was a little higher than the competition’s,” notes Paul Nichols, president of Tulsa, OK-based CP Solutions, a Consolidated Graphics company. So Nichols made the customer a tongue-in-cheek offer: He would print and mail the job for the price
Perfecting Press Doubles Production BRAINTREE, MA—A six-color, 40˝ Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102 perfector press with aqueous coater has been added at G.H. Dean Printing, and it has been twice as productive as the older press it replaced, reports CEO Ken Michaud. The new machine, which is the second six-color SM 102 perfector at G.H. Dean, is turning a lot more jobs in a shorter time due to the high degree of automation. Founded in 1889, the all-Heidelberg shop is a third-generation, family owned commercial printing and direct mail business that serves a regional clientele comprised of advertising agencies, marketing, financial services and healthcare companies,
HOUSTON—Consolidated Graphics (CGX) enhanced its East Coast presence and immediately became “Pikachu’s” favorite printer with the acquisition of Durham, NC-based PBM Graphics. Ranked 51st in the Printing Impressions 400 for 2007 with sales of $121.7 million, PBM specializes in producing collectible trading cards and trading card games and is the largest producer of Pokémon cards in the world. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to fiscal year 2009 earnings per share. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PBM was founded in 1983 by Terry Pegram, who along with his management team will continue to direct the facility. In addition to card products,
HOUSTON—Consolidated Graphics (CGX) continued a recent rash of big acquisitions in the industry and enhanced its East Coast presence by obtaining Durham, NC-based PBM Graphics. Ranked 51st on the Printing Impressions 400 for 2007 with sales of $121.7 million, PBM specializes in producing collectible trading cards and trading card games and is the largest producer of Pokémon cards in the world. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to fiscal year 2009 earnings per share. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PBM was founded in 1983 by Terry Pegram, who along with his management team will continue to direct the facility. In addition
Celebrating the New, But Treasuring the Old LOUISVILLE, KY—With the installation of its newest press, an eight-color Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105, and the historical display of its oldest, a 100-year-old Heidelberg letterpress, V.G. Reed and Sons has spanned a century of printing technologies. As a print and fulfillment solutions provider, the 140-employee company serves a wide range of customers including Fortune 500 companies, financial services firms, manufacturers, healthcare HMOs and niche publishers. ARIZONA BULLHEAD CITY—Two Quad-Stack web printing units from Web Press Corp. have been purchased by Brehm Communications, one for its News West Publishing location here and the other
INDUSTRY consolidators exist for a number of reasons, the main being an opportunity to make money by acquiring complementary (geographically or synergistically speaking) printing companies from owners who are looking for an exit to either retirement or another business opportunity. OK, so that less-than-shocking news doesn’t exactly leave you gagging on your afternoon coffee. But what does raise the eyebrows a bit is the notion that some printers would actually sell their printing business and (gulp) start another. No, not to run a custard stand, but actually embark on a second printing career. At first blush, this sounds like a questionable move, like divorcing
THE LAST 12 months have been nothing if not explosive from a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) standpoint. Look at some of the big names that changed hands: Valassis acquires ADVO for $1.2 billion. M&F Worldwide plunks down $1.7 billion for John Harland Co. Cenveo ropes Cadmus Communications (for $430 million), ColorGraphics, Printegra and Commercial Envelope. RR Donnelley annexes Von Hoffmann for $412.5 million. EarthColor bags L.P. Thebault. Synergy Graphics obtains Sunny Industries. Consolidated Graphics (CGX) lassos Pikes Peak and Cyril Scott. American Color Graphics is still in play but needs a savior, and one has to wonder if Vertis Communications will be able to
BIG NAMES were on the move in 2007. It was a year in which major mergers and acquisitions jammed the headlines of our news pages. And some deals never quite got off the ground, while others are in a holding pattern. There was an explosion of headline grabbers to open 2007, led by a pair of major transactions and a political coup for the industry. Having been thwarted in his efforts to acquire Banta Corp. by RR Donnelley on Halloween 2006, Cenveo Chairman and CEO Bob Burton hammered out a deal to acquire Cadmus Communications for $24.75 a share, or a total of $430
