Quebecor World

MONTREAL—Pierre Karl Peladeau, who helped spearhead the acquisition of World Color, has been named president and CEO of Quebecor World. He replaces Jean Neveu, who served the dual roles in an interim basis since March 2003. Peladeau has served a number of roles with the company, including COO of Quebecor Printing. In other company news, TRC Capital offered to purchase up to three million Quebecor World subordinate voting shares, representing about 3.5 percent of all outstanding subordinate shares, at a price of C$25.25 each. In response, Quebecor World recommended that shareholders reject the offer, which was 3.8 percent lower than its closing price on February 25,

Dallas Printers Agree to Merge DALLAS—Impression Graphics and Ussery Printing have agreed to merge, with the company operating under the name of Ussery Printing. The combined companies have 76 employees and roughly $11.7 million in annual sales. The company will be able to produce small- and large-format printing. Quad/Graphics Signs Extension SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics will become the exclusive printer for U.S. News & World Report in January 2005 after the two parties reached an accord on a contract extension. Quad will print 2.2 million weekly copies of the publication for distribution throughout the United States. The work will be produced entirely at Quad facilities in Saratoga Springs, NY,

arizona PHOENIX—AIRO Graphics is now operating a six-color Komori Lithrone 40 perfector. TEMPE—A Prime UV four-lamp UV curing system has been installed as a retrofit on a five-unit Harris M-110 perfector web press to cure wet trap UV ink on commercial printing at ValleyWide Printing Services. california BURBANK—LAgraphico, a full-service premedia and printing company that serves the film industry, recently installed a new Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74 sheetfed press to produce promotional collateral to support feature films such as "Peter Pan," "Seabiscuit" and "Cheaper by the Dozen." On February 20, LAgraphico celebrated its 25th anniversary with an open house event at its new 78,000-square-foot

Tanagraphics, Seybert Merge NEW YORK CITY—Tanagraphics Inc. and Seybert Nicholas Printing Group have signed a definitive merger agreement to form what they claim to be the largest privately held company providing print management solutions in the Big Apple. The new company will be called TanaSeybert and will offer commercial and digital printing, advertising prepress services, bindery and mailing services. TanaSeybert will also offer a full range of integrated Web- and browser-based services. Harris DeWese, chairman of Compass Capital Partners, served as financial advisor for the transaction. Baldwin, technotrans Deal Nixed SHELTON, CT—Baldwin Technology has notified technotrans AG that it will no longer pursue the transaction announced in

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA—Atlanta Web Printers has opened its second facility, located in Tucker, GA. Along with the physical expansion of its facilities, the publication printer has also restructured the management team. Jerry Williamson, CEO of Williamson Printing, Dallas, has been named the Graphic Arts Leaders of the Americas (GALA) North American award recipient for 2004 by the Printing Association of Florida. He received his award before hundreds of industry leaders and guests at the 21st annual GALA awards banquet during Graphics of the America 2004 in Miami Beach. F.E. Treis, Arandell Corp. chairman, was recently honored for 60 years of leadership at the

MONTREAL—For 10 veteran employees at the Quebecor World facility here, life has taken a turn for the awesome. The group struck it rich on Jan. 9 by hitting the winning numbers in the Super 7 Lotto. They will share a pot of C$17.5 million. All of the employees have been with Quebecor World Montreal at least 20 years, with the average worker making $15 an hour. Now, their financials have enjoyed an uptick. The elder statesman of the group, 65-year-old Roger Malo, finally will retire, purchase a new home, car and computer, then bestow cash gifts of $125,000 to his son and daughter, according to the Journal

FedEx Buys Kinko's Franchise MEMPHIS, TN—FedEx Corp. and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) have announced an agreement for FedEx to acquire Kinko's for $2.4 billion in cash. Kinko's operates approximately 1,200 stores worldwide, generating annual sales of about $2 billion. Funds managed by CD&R, a private equity investment firm, currently owns about 75 percent of Kinko's outstanding shares. Once the transaction is completed, all Kinko's locations will offer new or expanded FedEx shipping options to small- to medium-size businesses and to large corporate customers. FedEx has been Kinko's exclusive shipping provider since 1988. Scitex Selling Digital Printing TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—Scitex Corp. and Eastman Kodak have signed a

Now in its 20th year, the Printing Impressions 400 (in this special pull-out section) provides the industry's most comprehensive ranking of the leading printing companies in the United States and Canada. The listings include company name and headquarters location; parent company, if applicable; current and previous year's rankings; most recent and previous year's fiscal sales; percentage change; primary specialties; principal officer(s); and number of employees, manufacturing plants and total press units. In a few instances, those firms on the list that are heavily involved in activities other than printing were instructed to indicate sales derived only from printing. If printing revenues comprised

PIA/GATF Chooses New Home SAN ANTONIO, TX—After an 18 month review, the boards of directors of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) and Printing Industries of America (PIA) have selected Sewickley, PA, (over Waukesha, WI) as the new site for its consolidated headquarters. While GATF/PIA will maintain a small office in Washington, DC, for public policy purposes, the majority of PIA operations will move to the current headquarters of GATF, located just outside of Pittsburgh.The timing for the move is the fall of 2004. Mail-Well Creates New Group ENGLEWOOD, CO—Mail-Well has formed its new 360° Enterprise Solutions Group for the direct marketing industry. The 360° Enterprise Solutions

Printing Impressions 400: Sign of the Times WOW! I can't believe that this issue marks the 20th year that our editorial staff has been compiling the annual Printing Impressions 400 ranking of the leading printers in the United States and Canada. Along with the PI 400, we present next year's outlook for several key print market segments—another traditional feature of the December issue. Many of you may recall that the list used to include 500 companies, before all of the industry consolidation in the mid- and late-'90s compelled us to lower the number of printers surveyed. Speaking of consolidation, undoubtedly the biggest industry headline