Visant Corp.

JUST WHEN you thought the landscape had stabilized following the 11th hour acquisition of Banta by RR Donnelley in October for $1.3 billion—thwarting a hostile takeover attempt by Cenveo kingpin Bob Burton to wrest control of Banta—a subsequent flurry of blockbuster M&A deals has sent shockwaves throughout the graphic arts industry. Who would have guessed that North America’s largest printer, RR Donnelley, would extend its reach even further by then swallowing up venerable entities Perry Judd’s for $176 million and Von Hoffmann for $412.5 million, both in all-cash transactions? Or that Cenveo’s Burton would remain undaunted about the big fish (Banta) that got away

Lee Sheds Commercial Assets DAVENPORT, IA—Lee Enterprises is divesting its standalone publishing and commercial printing operations in the Pacific Northwest and a twice-weekly newspaper in Oregon via asset sales to different buyers. The deals involve three buyers and were expected to be completed by early this month. The aggregate price of the Pacific Northwest properties (which include several Websites) is approximately $51 million. Three Printers Join Forces MARLBOROUGH, MA—Three independent printing firms—Pendleton Printers, Reservoir Printing and Apex Press—are being merged into a new company called Synergy Graphic Solutions. The company is owned by Doug Pendleton, president of his namesake company. Pendleton Printers and Apex Press will move

Stitcher Installation a First in the States HARTFORD, WI—This month, Quad/Graphics will become the first printer in the United States to install a high-performance Muller Martini Supra saddlestitching system. The Supra will be located at the Quad/Graphics printing center located here. Featuring a newly developed and highly advanced pocket wheel feeder, the new Supra stitcher, shown to the public for the first time at Drupa 2004, offers production speeds of up to 30,000 cycles per hour. Quad's Supra is rated at 25,000 cycles with the new 416 feeder. "Our finishing operations are characterized not just by speed, but by flexibility and efficiency," explains Thomas Quadracci, Quad/Graphics

By Warren Chiara Mergers and acquisitions in the printing industry over the past year resulted in some changes at the top of BookTech Magazine's annual Top Book Manufacturing listing—ranked by book manufacturing sales. One change concerns the perennial Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the list. When RR Donnelley acquired Moore Wallace last year, it changed the way the $8 billion company breaks down its revenues. It used to report the performance of individual units, but now casts revenues into two major business components: publishing and retail services, and integrated print communications and global solutions business. The latter category accounts for 40.2 percent

Banta to Sell Healthcare Group MENASHA, WI—Banta Corp. has reached an agreement to sell the assets of single-use healthcare products subsidiary Banta Healthcare Group to an affiliate of Fidelity Capital Investors for $67 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter. Fidelity is a private equity investment division of Boston-based Fidelity Strategic Investments. In a separate deal related to the divestiture, Banta sold its warehouse in Rialto, CA, to a California real estate investment company for $7 million. Phoenix Color Closes Division CHICAGO—Phoenix Color has authorized the closure of its Book Technology Park division and the sale of its

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2004. Therefore, companies that revised their 2003 revenues may have changed their 2003 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 ('03: 2) RR Donnelley, Chicago, IL Total Sales (Millions): $8,204.50 Previous Year's Sales (Millions): $4,754.94 Change (%): +73 Principal Officer: Mark A. Angelson Employees: 44,000 Primary Specialties: SPEC 26%; CAT/PUB 23%; BF 10%; COM 9%; BKS 8% Web Offset Press Units: N/A Sheetfed Press

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor The book printing industry in America cannot live on Harry Potter's whimsy and Oprah Winfrey's blessings to survive in an environment that's losing share to overseas competition. Hit titles such as the J.K. Rowling line of Potter tomes, and the popularity heft that the afternoon talk show queen can put behind a new or backlisted work, can create a stir in both the publishing and printing industries. What the leading book manufacturers from our Printing Impressions 400 are looking for is consistency from the educational market. Top 10 Book Printers  CompanySegmentSales(millions)TotalSales(millions) 1Quebecor WorldMontreal$704$6,400 2RR DonnelleyChicago$656$8,204 3Banta

By Noelle Skodzinski It's not likely a big surprise that Quebecor World held fast to its No. 1 spot among the Top Book Manufacturers—ranked by book manufacturing revenues—in the United States and Canada. With a $36 million lead over RR Donnelley, and a $273 million lead over third-ranked Von Hoffmann Corp., Quebecor World isn't likely to lose its position anytime soon. Both top seeds, however, saw book sales drop in 2003. In fact, revenues for three of the top five sank by a total of nearly $130 million. Arvato Print USA (a division of Bertelsmann) and Von Hoffmann were the only two in

(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 Erik Cagle Senior Editor Try summing up the 2003 season from the book printing market's point of view. It can't be done. Sure, another Potter tome and the return of Oprah's book club did wonders for a struggling trade market, and most feel the elementary-high school (el-hi) sector was as depressed as the economy, with weak adoption programs to match. But, for the most part, the answers to what worked and what didn't pan out depends largely upon who is being asked. Top 10 Book Printers CompanySegmentSales(millions)TotalSales(millions) 1RR DonnelleyChicago$808$4,754 2Quebecor WorldMontreal$749$6,242 3Banta Corp.Menasha, WI$355$1,366 4Von HoffmannSt. Louis$348$535 5Bertelsmann ArvatoNew York$209$276 6Courier Corp.N.