Merrill Corp.

BY CAROLINE MILLER When the ball dropped on Times Square at midnight on January 1, 2001, no one could have imagined how challenging this year was going to be for the printing industry. Top 10 -- Financial Printers   Company SegmentSales(millions) TotalSales (millions) 1 Bowne & Co.New York $847 $1,114 2 R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago $525 $5,254 3 Merrill Corp.St. Paul, MN $260 $649 4 Cunningham GraphicsJersey City, NJ $120 $185 5 IKON Office SolutionsMalvern, PA $45 $900 6 Burrups PackardPhiladelphia $30 $60 7 Applied Printing TechnologiesMoonachie, NJ $25 $105 8 Henry Wurst Inc.N. Kansas City, MO $21 $107 9 Scott PrintingNew Providence,

Roger Perry: Web Offset PioneerWATERLOO, WI—Roger L. Perry, 78, who transformed his father's newspaper publishing business into a bustling commercial printer of magazines, catalogs and advertising, died April 14. Mr. Perry purchased an interest in his father's firm, Perry Printing, in 1956. He updated his father's antiquated letterpress with a web offset press, a bold move at the time, but Mr. Perry saw a trend toward higher quality, larger volume and increased color reproduction capability. He sold full ownership of the company to Journal Communications in 1974, but remained there until 1990, when he retired as chairman and CEO of Perry Printing and as

HOUSTON—In an attempt to reduce costs and improve operating efficiencies, Consolidated Graphics announced that it has combined the sales and printing operations in three under-performing locations into larger nearby facilities. A new strategic alliance has been negotiated for a fourth location, and the company expects to incur a special fourth quarter charge as a result, in the $4 million to $5 million range, after taxes. "Combining sales and printing operations in three of our markets enables us to serve customers much more efficiently," states Charles F. White, president and COO. "As the combined businesses were in close proximity, we now can provide the local service and

If you know the name of a printing company that you think appears on the Printing Impressions 400 list, but you're not sure of its ranking, here's an easy way to locate that firm. Simply find the company in the alphabetical listings on this page. In addition to each company's name and headquarters location, a corresponding number appears indicating that firm's ranking on the Printing Impressions 400. ABS Graphics (Addison, IL) 400 Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI) 353 Adams Business Forms (Topeka, KS) 96 AdPlex Inc. (Houston, TX) 102 Advance Business Graphics (Mira Loma, CA) 153 AFL Web Printing (Voorhees, NJ)

Editor's note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2000. Therefore, companies that revised their 1999 revenues may have changed their '99 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 500. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:1 1Quebecor World*, Montreal, Canada$6,540.00$6,160.00+6Charles G. Cavell44,000PUB 29%; ADV 20%; CAT 17%; DM 13%3,156985808Public 160*Parent: Quebecor Inc., Montreal, Canada  2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:2

The year 2000 brought a myriad of activity in the financial printing segment, from a slowing economy to a number of printer acquisitions. BY CAROLINE MILLER The end of 1999 will be recorded by many in the financial printing industry as one of the best years in modern history. However, the dawn of the new millennium found the financial printing market feeling the effects of a slowing economy. The year 2000 saw uncertain demand in capital markets activity, most noticeably the softening of IPO and mergers and acquisitions in the third quarter, leading to a significant slowdown in the number of deals brought to

ST. PAUL, MN—Merrill Corp. announced that its Financial Document Services (FDS) business has opened an office in Frankfurt, Germany. The full-service operation center, together with centers in London and Paris, further strengthens and diversifies Merrill's international operations. "We continue to be asked by customers in other European markets when we will open facilities in their cities," states Mike James, Merrill's president of Financial Document Services. "We decided Frankfurt was our next important commitment as we grow our presence on the continent." The new office is open 24/7 to support the quick turnaround, document drafting and print production requirements of clients conducting business in Germany

As the consolidation march pauses to take a breath, the sector's leaders are taking the time to prove to Wall Street that they can manage their new empires. BY CHRISTOPHER CORNELL About this time two years ago, the trade press were using metaphors like "juggernaut" and "tidal wave" to describe the actions of a half-dozen companies in the graphic arts industry, as they began an awe-inspiring crusade to consolidate one of North America's more fractured business sectors. Any metaphor that implied inevitability seemed appropriate. Announcements of new acquisitions came, at times, weekly; sometimes they even appeared daily. What a difference two years can make.

BY CHRISTOPHER CORNELL Each little drop in the bucket doesn't amount to much, but after a while it can turn into a torrent; that's the metaphor that applies to the graphic arts industry in 1999. Each individual merger and acquisition during the course of the year didn't affect the industry that much, but, in the aggregate, 1999 will likely be remembered as the year in which the number of companies in it noticeably shrunk. The biggest news story of the year was one just about everybody saw coming. Just after mid-year, following weeks of industry speculation, Quebecor Printing and World Color Press signed a

Financial printing is benefiting from a robust M&A market, continued mutual fund surges and (surprise!) the Internet, as 2000 sets its sights on Wall Street. In 1997, the financial printing market was considered by some financial printers to be the hottest bull market in modern history. By the end of 1998, the same financial printing insiders were less enthused, dubbing 1998 a year of difficult "highs and lows," as the financial printing market and its lifemate—Wall Street—rode out a year that, for the market's competitive printers, was burdened with a dramatic downturn of transactional business. Then came 1999—thank goodness. Top 10 Financial Printers CompanySegmentSales(millions)Total Sales(millions)1R.R.