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
RR Donnelley
california BURBANK—California Coast Color has added a four-color, 40˝ Mitsubishi Diamond 3000S sheetfed press. It is the second Mitsubishi for the 12,500-square-foot shop with 20 employees. COSTA MESA—Hoover Printing & Lithography is now operating its newly installed, six-color HP Indigo digital press. SAN LUIS OBISPO—Herschel "Hank" Apfelberg, longtime professor of graphic communication at Cal Poly, died January 13 at Stanford University Hospital at the age of 67. Mr. Apfelberg started his career as a linotype operator/compositor. Before coming to Cal Poly, where he taught from 1971 to 2001, he worked as a process engineer and rotogravure administrator for American Can and as printing superintendent
New Press Finds Home In New Jersey HILLSBOROUGH, NJ—East Coast Media has installed a five-color, 28˝ Sakurai EDII press. It is fully automated with auto plate changers, ink rollers and blanket cleaners, and includes an SCC color console equipped with SAS, for auto sheet size preset, cylinder registration, and impression adjustment and setting. The press joins an existing two-color Sakurai perfector. Supreme Installation Bound to Please ARCADIA, WI—Full-service and specialty printer Supreme Graphics has purchased a Duplo System 4000 collator/bookletmaker from Best Graphics. A key part of its business is producing classroom texts, lesson planners and other books for schools. california SAN
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
CHICAGO—RR Donnelley and Moore Wallace have signed a definitive agreement to create North America's largest full-service commercial printer with more than $8 billion in annual revenues and approximately 50,000 employees worldwide. The combined company will retain the RR Donnelley name and will be headquartered in Chicago. Upon closing of the transaction, Mark Angelson, CEO of Moore Wallace, will become CEO of the new RR Donnelley, succeeding William Davis, chairman, president and CEO of RR Donnelley. Longtime RR Donnelley director Stephen M. Wolf is to become non-executive chairman of the combined company. Under the terms of the transaction, Moore Wallace shareholders will receive RR Donnelley shares based on a fixed exchange ratio
BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Looking back, 2003 has shaped up much the same as 2002 for magazine publishers and publication printers. Both are still holding out hope for a rebound in advertising spending but, at the same time, are wary of to what extent the competitive standing of magazines has permanently changed. Consider one measure of industry activity: the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) index of consumer magazine ad pages. Through October, advertising revenue was up 8.7 percent, but ad pages were down 0.2 percent compared to the same period in 2002. The comprehensive numbers only tell part of the story, since the
(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2003. Therefore, companies that revised their 2002 revenues may have changed their 2002 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 1 ('02: 1) Quebecor World, Montréal, Canada Total Sales (Millions): $6,242.00 Previous Year's Sales (Millions): $6,300.00 Change (%): -1 Principal Officer: Jean Neveu Employees: 38,000 Primary Specialties: PUB 26%; ADV 23%; CAT 16%; BKS 12% Web Offset Press Units: 3,156 Sheetfed Press Units: 985 Other Press
BY chris Bauer Managing Editor The year 2003 can be summed up as a period that had its ups and downs as far as the commercial printing industry is concerned. For every plant closing, there seemed to be a plant expansion project. For every poor financial report, there was a major capital equipment expenditure. Some big names left the industry, making way for a new generation of leaders. And the industry's biggest annual trade show left attendees and exhibitors with a feeling of hope. Let's take a look back. The beginning of the year brought with it changes to the top spots at several
BY Chris Bauer Managing Editor No segment of the printing industry has undergone the vigorous changes that the financial printing market has experienced in the past few years. Financial printers traditionally positioned themselves as document experts, who helped clients manage production of documents and regulatory filings. They would manage the style and formats necessary to satisfy SEC financial regulations. As long as the economy sustained business growth, financial printers report that they saw no reason to change. When the economy was booming in the 1990s, financial printers simply invested in building an infrastructure parallel with a market acceleration that, odds are, will never
Unlike some professional sports, the printing industry seemingly has no salary cap when it comes to paying its top executives. Printing Impressions' 14th annual executive compensation report shows this, while highlighting the industry's top money earners at publicly held printing companies. William Davis (who plans to retire), chairman, president and CEO of Chicago-based RR Donnelley, tops this year's list, taking home more than $1.4 million, which is actually down from his salary last year. The rankings indicate previous fiscal year salaries, most recent fiscal year wages and the percentage change in compensation from the two fiscal years that are shown. While some executives, like