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Corrugated Consolidation – June 2024 M&A Activity

July 7, 2024, 5:37 pm
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There has been a steady uptick in the number of acquisitions over the past twelve months of companies focused on the production of corrugated cartons. Recent deal activity involving the corrugating, printing, and converting of corrugated box products now exceeds that of any of the prior five years, including the number of deals we logged in the corrugated segment during 2019, the benchmark year before Covid disrupted everything.

From the largest players, such as International Paper, to the midsize integrated companies including Hood Container and Green Bay Packaging, to Welch Packaging, which is rolling up smaller companies, interest in fiber-based corrugated box businesses is keen and shows no sign of letting up. However, unlike the private equity-induced fever-pitch pace of deals in the label and flexible packaging segments that occurred prior to the Covid shutdown and continued apace up to the first quarter of 2023, transactions in the corrugated business have been, to date, driven primarily by buyers that are themselves steady-as-you-go family businesses.

We began to see an increased interest in the box, of all types, as 2023 began, concurrent with the decline in the number of deals in labels and flexible packaging. It appeared, at least to us, that the purchase price multiples in the label and flexible packaging businesses had reached unsustainable levels, coinciding with a dearth of suitable acquisition candidates; many of the best already having been cherry-picked by the surfeit of private equity funds vying to snag the next label or flexible packaging deal. (For more, see: The Target Report: The Box is Back – January 2023.)



Vertical Integration Enables M&A Scale

Green Bay Packaging announced the acquisition of SMC Packaging Group, a corrugated box manufacturer based in Springfield, Missouri. Originally founded in 1972 as Southern Missouri Containers, the company expanded via acquisitions and now operates in four locations in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. With over 550 full-time employees, the acquired company was an early adopter of the employee-ownership structure, converting to an ESOP structure in 1978, only four years after the roll-out of the formal ESOP model that was defined and encouraged with the passage in 1974 of the federal Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA).

SMC Packaging’s capabilities include a corrugator that produces a wide range of corrugated flute profiles, including B, C, E, and combinations of these. Printing is up to four colors over two colors in one pass, with capability to mount preprinted top sheets for higher level graphics. The company provides design and inventory management. In addition to boxes, SMC manufactures retail displays that use corrugated substrates.

While SMC Packaging’s capabilities are impressive, the merger into Green Bay Packaging brings the vertical integration to a completely different level. Starting with the company’s management of several hundred thousand acres of forestland, Green Bay Packaging harvests and reforests approximately 5,500 acres per year, planting 5,000,000 pine trees annually. The Green Bay Mill division, in Wisconsin, produces recycled content containerboard. The Arkansas Mill division, with multiple locations along the Arkansas River, produces containerboard with a mix of recycled and virgin fibers, along with lumber, and waste products used for energy production.

Further down the corrugating production sequence, Green Bay Packaging has 30 corrugated converting operations, mostly in the Midwest. There is a folding carton division a short distance up the Fox River from the Green Bay Mill location, and eight locations that produce paper and film pressure-sensitive label stock, bringing the total to over 40 operations.

Founded in 1933, Green Bay Packaging is still family-owned, led by the third-generation, operates in 16 states, and employs more than 4,500 people. With the scale and vertical integration of its operations, the company was well positioned to take on the smaller, but still sizeable, SMC Packaging Group.

Combining Manufacturing with Outsourced Production

SupplyOne, which touts its advantage as being “equal parts manufacturer, distributor, and service provider,” announced the acquisition of Columbia Corrugated Box Company, a manufacturer of corrugated boxes. The company uses flexo technology to print up to six colors plus UV coating directly onto corrugated. High-level graphics are achieved by laminating digitally or offset-printed top sheets onto the corrugated substrates. As is common in the corrugated box business, retail display production and inventory management are offered.

Based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, SupplyOne claims to be “the largest independent supplier of corrugated and value-added packaging products, equipment, and services in North America.” Founded 25 years ago as a packaging management company that relied on an outsourced network of manufacturers, the company has grown to include both internal manufacturing capabilities and distribution, in addition to the outsourced production model.

SupplyOne’s growth has been fueled by a steady program of acquisitions; the purchase of Columbia Corrugated Box is the company’s 41st addition. Based in the northwest, Columbia represents a significant geographic expansion for SupplyOne. While many of the companies in the corrugated segment remain family-owned, SupplyOne is an exception and is owned by private equity firm 'ing Capital Management.

Focused on Family-Based Corrugated

Welch Packaging Group, based in Elkhart, Indiana, rolled up two more acquisitions of family-owned corrugated box companies in the past year. Most recently, Welch acquired Innovative Packaging Solutions, a corrugated box and retail display manufacture based in York, Pennsylvania. The transaction stays within Welch’s laser-focused lane, the corrugated box business, however the expansion is a significant leap outside Welch’s traditional geographic focus on businesses in the Midwest and Midsouth regions.

Within the past year, Welch also acquired AtCorr Packaging Products, a family-owned manufacturer of corrugated boxes located in Glasgow, Kentucky. The sellers noted that Welch’s twenty-plus locations and its network of sheet plants would support their ability to service existing customers and expand their business on a going-forward basis. The retention of the acquired business operation is consistent with Welch’s strategy that reflects the local nature of much corrugated production and delivery to end users. (For more, see: The Target Report: Catching the Wave in Corrugated Cartons – February 2020.)
   
2024 June - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Paxton Media GroupNo DataPaducah, KYState Gazette (+3 titles)
Prop Rust Communications		No DataCape Girardeau, MO6/28/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
FedrigoniNo DataVerona, ItalyBoingTech
(Sub. Shanghai Inlay Link)		$60.0Ayer Keroh,
Malaysia		6/25/24No DataPurchase of Majority InterestRFID inlays & tagsLink
Ennis$411.9Midlothian, TX Printing TechnologiesNo DataIndianapolis, IN6/25/24No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Label printingLink
New Milford PrintingNo DataNew Milford, CTJ&J PrintingNo DataNew Milford, CT6/24/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
International Minute Press
(New franchisee)		No DataCoeur d’Alene, IDAction PrintersNo DataCoeur d’Alene, ID6/18/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
NickelyticsNo DataTampa, FLSigns Printing SolutionsNo DataMiami, FL6/11/24No DataAcquisitionWide format printingLink
CCL Industries$4,807Toronto, ONPacman-CCL
(JV w/ Albwardy Investment)		No DataDubai, UAE6/10/24$105.6AcquisitionLabel printingLink
SupplyOne
(Port co. Wellspring Capital Mngt.)		No DataNewtown Square,
PA		Columbia Corrugated BoxNo DataTualatin, OR 6/7/24No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxes & displaysLink
Green Bay PackagingNo DataGreen Bay, WISMC PackagingNo DataSpringfield, MO6/6/24No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
Vinsak GroupNo DataHaryana, IndiaRotatekNo DataMartorelles, Spain6/4/24No DataAcquisitionFlexographic pressesLink
Carpenter MediaNo DataNatchez, MSPamplin Media
Portland Tribune (+23 titles)		No DataPortland, OR6/3/24No DataAcquisition
(Cribb, Cope & Potts)		Community newspapersLink
The Sourcing Group (TSG)No DataNew York, NYDrew & RogersNo DataFairfield, NJ6/1/24No DataAcquisitionPrint & promo managementLink

   
2024 June - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
No Chapter 11 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
Chapter 7 Filings:
Print N Go Inc.6/27/24No Data24-02682Mayaguez, PR1stPuerto Rico
Ponce		Maria GonzalezGloria IrizarryPrinting & copying
GAI Printing, LLC6/10/24No Data24-23069Mequon, WI 7thEastern WI
Milwaukee		Beth E. HananNicholas KerkmanCommercial printing

 
2024 June - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Hi-Tech Printing Company7/17/24No DataPompano Beach, FLN/ANoneJul-24Commercial printingLink
Load King7/30/24No DataJacksonville, FLN/ANoneJul-24Retail environmentsLink
Leader-Telegram - Printing facilityAug-24No DataLake Hallie, WIAdams Publishing GroupCoon Rapids, MN6/5/24Consolidating print to other plantLink


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Troubled Times for Graphic Machinery Innovators – July 2024 M&A Activity

August 7, 2024, 3:34 pm
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Two Innovators in the design and manufacture of machinery used in graphic-related industries recently filed for bankruptcy, bringing to light the challenges of being out front with new ideas. One company pioneered an entirely new method of coloring thread, enabled by digital printing technology. The other abandoned more than a century of experience in the very traditional business of building bookbinding equipment in an attempt to position itself for the possible future when content goes all digital.

On-Demand Thread Dyeing in Demand

It started with a simple idea. Apply inkjet technology to thread to create colors on-demand.

The traditional method to sew a multi-color embroidered design on promotional branded garments is to change the spool of thread multiple times, or employ machines with multiple stitching heads, each drawing from different color threads.

Instead, if you could simply dye white thread in real time, in-line, and in any color, you could sew a multi-color logo without ever changing the thread. Swedish technology company, Coloreel Group AB, pioneered this idea, met all the challenges to perfect it, and introduced on-demand thread dyeing to the embroidery market. As the machine whirrs away, the thread changes color as called for by the software-driven design integrated with the market-leading automatic embroidery machines. With the Coloreel technology, colors across the spectrum are available at all times. As an added bonus, gradual fades and color transitions, never possible before, are now options.

It is the embroidery equivalent of the plain-paper workflow that has transformed the direct mail industry. Printing companies that have embraced branded embroidered items within their promo offerings are beneficiaries of the flexibility offered by the Coloreel technology. Any color logo is instantly produced from one color of stocked thread: white.

Hailed as a step forward in the search for sustainable solutions in the textile industry, the Coloreel technology potentially eliminates the need to stock multitudes of colors, reducing stocking inventory, multiple setups, obsolescence, and waste. The core of the system is an inkjet printing engine that reportedly reduces water consumption by 97% compared to traditional dyeing methods.

The company was founded in Sweden in 2003 as a research company. It was not until 2019 that the company announced its first highly marketable industrial application. In 2021, the company shifted its focus to manufacturing the machines to bring its technology to market, supported by an $8 million round of funding from its existing and new investors. In September 2023, Coloreel announced that it had secured a $2 million investment from an unnamed Asian manufacturer to enable it to meet the increased demand for its thread-dyeing units.

Coloreel filed for bankruptcy on July 10th. It is unclear from the reports if the company will be attempting to reorganize, however the tone of the press release announcing the bankruptcy is funereal, at best, and at least on the surface, offers no hope of corporate resurrection. The company’s Board Chairman announced the bankruptcy with a “heavy heart” and expressed remorse that the company’s “relentless efforts” were insufficient to keep the company afloat.

The bankruptcy filing comes as a sudden turn of events. As recently as May 2024, Coloreel announced that the company had entered into an agreement to provide its technology to Juki, the Japanese sewing machine manufacturer. The venture was the first step to move Coloreel beyond embroidery into the much larger sewing market.

All the good news was not enough, even for a truly innovative company that has over 120 patents across 45 markets. The company blamed the bankruptcy on its inability to expand its business quickly enough to meet demand in accordance with its financial model, insufficient funding, and failure to minimize operational costs. As of this writing, the Coloreel website is not functioning; the message displayed states “payment required.”

Having seen this technology in action, we suspect that this story is not over yet.

Your Vacation may be Longer than Expected

Workers at the Kolbus plant in Rahden Germany received the news while on their company-wide summer holiday. The company, which designs and manufactures graphic product finishing machines, announced that it was insolvent and had entered into a voluntary proceeding to restructure. At least for the time being, the employees will return to work and be paid; under the German insolvency laws, salaries and wages are guaranteed by a government agency for three months while the company plans and negotiates its restructuring plan. What happens after that is still not clear.

A trustee has been appointed from Pluta, a European restructuring firm, to assist the company management to self-administer the reorganization plan (similar to a Chapter 11 reorganization in the US). The company has stated that business will continue to operate as normal. Orders for new machinery will be fulfilled, including those placed at the recent Drupa show held in Düsseldorf.

The current Kolbus headquarters and primary facility sits on the very same spot where, in 1775, Christian Henrich Kolbus established the roots of the company that still bears his name. Young Kolbus had spent his early years shoeing horses for the Prussian army (Germany as a nation did not exist for almost a hundred more years). He settled down in Rahden to start a blacksmith shop and family farm.

In 1877, in what by then was part of the German Empire, Christian’s grandson Franz built a forge on the same site. Franz begins his business with the manufacture of farming machinery, cast-iron stoves, and components for church-tower clocks and windmills. In what would become the critical turning point for the Kolbus family, Franz sent his son August to America where he spent 13 years learning the bookbinding trade. With his acquired deep knowledge of the bookbinding business, August returns to Rahden, where he designs and builds a book spine rounding and surface pressing machine. Affectionately called the “Rupert,” the machine established Kolbus in the business of bookbinding equipment, a path followed until 2018 (except for the period during World War II, when the factory was repurposed to produce armaments for the German Army, and as a consequence, was completely demolished by the Allies).

After 243 years in business, and well over a hundred years as a world-class bookbinding machine manufacturer, in 2018, Kolbus took a dramatic strategic left-hand turn and exited the majority of its bookbinding equipment business. In January of that year, Kolbus sold its perfect binding and book line business to Switzerland-based Müller Martini. To retain the deep expertise of the Kolbus book business, about 250 employees were transferred to the Müller Martini business unit, which then set up a separate factory in Rahden.

At the time, the long-run book business appeared to be in a steady decline, and demand for packaging was increasing. Kolbus then executed the next step of its strategic plan, and in September 2018, the company acquired British machine manufacturer AutoBox. Kolbus forged ahead with its new strategic direction, introducing a highly automated modular flexo printing and diecutting machine that produces corrugated boxes, printed on one or two sides, all in one pass. Other machines produce a variety of box types, including automated production of wrapped rigid boxes.

Kolbus is now almost entirely in the packaging equipment business. After almost 250 years, the company has navigated the transition from a simple blacksmith shop to a manufacturer of sophisticated machinery, rebuilt itself after total destruction in war, and built a world-class highly respected brand.

Despite the recent financial challenges that resulted in the insolvency filing, the Kolbus story is not over yet. In light of its long history, we believe that it would be premature to pre-judge the long-term rightness of Kobus’s shift from bookmaking to packaging. If the company is able to restructure for short-term survivability, it may turn out to be as prescient as the switch from manufacturing of wood stoves in favor of bookbinding equipment was over a century ago.
   
2024 July - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
MeyersNo DataMinneapolis, MN Johnson Printing & PackagingNo DataFridley, MN7/31/24No DataAsset AcquisitionFolding cartonsLink
Inovar Packaging Group
(Port co. Kelso & Company)		No DataDallas, TXThe Kennedy GroupNo DataWilloughby, OH 7/31/24No DataAcquisition
(Mesirow)		Label printingLink
Lake City PressNo DataLake Charles, LAPort PrintingNo DataLake Charles, LA7/28/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Postmedia$297.2Toronto, CanadaSaltwire (20+ titles)No DataHalifax, NS7/26/24No DataAcquisition
(CN insolvency sale)		Community newspapersLink
Sofidel America
(Sub. Sofidel S.p.A.)		No DataHorsham, PATissue business
(Div. Clearwater Paper)		No DataSpokane, WA7/22/24$1,060AcquisitionTissue paper productsLink
Toof American Digital PrintingNo DataMemphis, TNAmplifyNo DataGermantown, TN7/18/24No DataAcquisitionWide format printingLink
Lorraine GregoryNo DataEdgewood, NYAxle EightNo DataScottsdale, AZ7/16/24No DataAcquisitionDigital marketing servicesLink
Vernon PublishingNo DataEldon, MOSt. Clair Courier (+2 titles)No DataOsceola, MO7/15/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Suzano$7,700 Bahia, BrazilPaper mills (2)
(Div Pactiv Evergreen)		No DataPine Bluff, AR
Waynesboro, NC		7/12/24$110.0AcquisitionPaperboard millsLink
All Seasons Tint & Graphic DesignsNo DataN. Richland Hills, TXWalls PrintingNo DataDallas, TX7/12/24No DataAcquisition
(Generational)		Commercial printingLink
AWT Labels & Packaging
(Port co. Morgan Stanley Capital)		No DataMinneapolis, MN American Label TechnologiesNo DataGarner, NC7/10/24No DataAcquisitionRFID & NFC labelsLink
Hemlock Display Solutions
(Div. Hemlock Printers)		No DataBurnaby, BCColortec Creative Print SolutionsNo DataBurnaby, BC7/9/24No DataAcquisitionWide format printingLink
Times Media GroupNo DataTempe, AZFirebrand MediaNo DataLaguna Beach, CA7/3/24No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspapersLink
Banner Capital ManagementNo DataLehi, UTVision Graphics
SBR Technologies		No DataSalt Lake City, UT7/1/24No DataAcquisitionWide format printing / ReproLink

   
2024 July - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
No Chapter 11 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
Chapter 7 Filings:
Pujol Printing & Publishing, LLC7/17/24No Data24-31559Geneva, AL11thMiddle AL
Montgomery		Bess M. Parrish CreswellRafael Gil, IIIPrinting & copying
LNL, LLC Dba We Print Vegas7/6/24No Data24-13414Paradise, NV9thNevada
Las Vegas		Natalie M. CoxErik C. SeverinoPrinting & copying

   
2024 July - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Monarch Litho - Printing facility9/19/24No DataMontebello, CAMonarch LithoSanta Teresa, NMJul-24Commercial printingLink
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The Target Report Annual Review – TTM August 2024 M&A Activity

September 10, 2024, 10:16 pm
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Covid in the Rear-View Mirror, Finally

Over the past thirteen years, we have chronicled, logged, and commented on the merger and acquisition activity in several print-centric business segments, with special attention to commercial printing, packaging (labels, folding cartons, & flexible packaging), wide-format, and direct mail companies. At the end of August each year, rather than focusing on the prior month’s deal activity, we take a look back at the past twelve months. If past is prologue, and to a reasonable extent we believe it is, then we hope to provide a high-level macro perspective on what the deal activity tells us about where the industry is headed. Which segments have experienced more, or less, deal activity? What are the trends in the buyers’ rationale to complete these acquisitions? Are acquirers adding facilities to their networks, or opportunistically folding acquisitions into their existing facilities? What does all this tell us about the potential future transactional activity within each print segment?

At the end of August every year, we review, categorize, sort, count, and chart the data we have collected, comparing the trailing twelve months (“TTM”) with the same period of prior years.

During the Covid years, we extended our look-back time frame to bridge the pandemic. We thought that the longer time period was necessary, and used 2019, the pre-Covid year, to provide a benchmark across the chasm created by the shut down, so that we might know when the market has returned to normal. In our M&A practice at GAA, we have finally reached the point where we no longer have to do mathematical somersaults in order to extract the impact of Covid from our analysis (well, not entirely, there are still PPP loans and ERC credits salted into many financial statements, but less and less as each month goes by). The Covid years of 2019 to 2021 are fading into the distance in our rear-view mirror, and we have returned to our pre‑Covid practice of a three-year comparison in most of the charts presented here.

In pure numeric M&A terms, deal activity during the past twelve months was off 5.0% from the prior TTM period, which was in turn off 10.0% from the prior year. We identified 189 transactions of interest during the past twelve months; the lowest number we have tracked in any period since we began counting for our annual reviews in the autumn of 2016.

Last year at this time, the big question was whether the economy could ease its way down from the euphoric post-Covid bulge in demand. We noted that the classic signs of turbulence were in abeyance, and it appeared that the economy, and therefore by extension the printing and packaging segments, might navigate the turbulence and nail the elusive soft landing. We noted last autumn that not all was well in our industry, however, as paper manufacturers and distributors announced deals that further consolidated the industry. Some paper mills closed, and other mills converted from printing to packaging grades, portending another possible tightening of the paper market in the future. (See The Target Report: Is a Soft Landing in Sight? – September 2023).

With the year behind us, as we head into the autumn of 2024, it appears that the US economy has in fact managed the soft landing. However, there are some bumps on the landing runway that indicate not all is well. The data noted below about bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy plant closings indicate a bumpy ride for some. We hear from many owners, but not all, in all printing segments, across the country, that there has been a softening of demand. At GAA, our special situations practice, in which we assist owners of financially challenged and highly distressed companies, has been unusually busy for most of 2024.

We are often asked what time of the year is the best time to go to market and when are buyers likely to close on deals? Historically, deal activity tends to drop off every year as we head into the summer months. This year was an exception. Although deal activity was off a bit overall this year, on the basis of a three-month trailing analysis, the announcements kept up a fairly steady pace throughout the past twelve months.


The chart above shows total counts of publicly announced M&A deals and provides a general view of the industry. The printing industry is not monolithic and in order to understand the market better, for the past thirteen years, we have categorized all the deals logged by the segment in which the acquired company primarily operates. We then dig deeper into the packaging, commercial printing, direct mail, and wide-format printing businesses, seeking to understand the rationale behind each deal, and gestalt the results by segment. We also analyze bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy plant closings to determine in which segments the business challenges are most pronounced.

The next chart breaks down the M&A transactions over the past three years into all the segments we track in The Target Report.



Commercial Printing

Our annual deep dive into the rationale behind the transactions in the commercial printing segment suggests that the commercial printing business has been reasonably stable, you might even say a bit upbeat. The percentage of deals that were structured as tuck‑ins dropped to an all-time low of 25%, in contrast to a high of 70% back in 2019. In these tuck-in transactions, the customers of the acquired company are transitioned to the buyer’s production facility. Buyers will often leave the disposition of the plant and equipment to the seller, or to the seller’s agent, avoiding responsibility for trade and other debt, and possibly cherry-picking certain equipment that is needed or desirable for the smooth continued servicing of the acquired customers. In our opinion, a higher percentage of tuck‑ins is indicative of overcapacity and financial stress, with the consequential result that there were fewer buyers willing to acquire an operating company within that segment of the industry.



There were 26 acquisitions in the commercial printing segment where the acquired facility was important to the buyer and will remain in operation, as-is-where-is. Sixteen of these buyers acquired the target company to add a location, with the stated goal of keeping the plant operating, the opposite of the tuck-in strategy. Notably, the other ten of these were sold to “new entry” owners that were not previously invested in the commercial printing industry. This is in stark contrast to the number of transactions in commercial printing that were completed by new entrants in 2019, only two. Clearly, something has changed: outsiders are once again interested in, and more important, they are investing in the printing industry. The idea that printing is dead is dead.

Digging a little deeper, we looked for instances in which buyers cited geographic expansion and/or adding new services as the rationale behind their acquisitions. We also noted whether a private equity sponsor was involved.



Adding a new service offering edged out expanding the company’s geographic footprint as the most often cited reason for completing a transaction. Adding wide-format was a common reason, while a couple were non-printing companies that added commercial printing.

Many owners we talk with in the commercial printing segment have told us that their companies did quite well in 2022, and that positive performance continued right up to the third quarter of 2023. That started to change as the fourth quarter of 2023 rolled into 2024, and we have been told by many owners that they have adjusted to a new normal, which is off from the go-go year of 2022. We hear even less about labor issues than we did last year, however some owners note that finding well-trained operators is still a common problem, especially for analog machines. We hear almost no complaints about the paper supply and most companies have worked off the excess inventory that was purchased at inflated pricing. We also hear from owners that their company’s customers do not accept price increases with the ease experienced when paper supplies were tight. (We hear similar comments across the various printing and packaging segments, not just from commercial printers.)

After a quiet period at the beginning of 2024, owners that had put their exit plans on hold are now back in the market actively seeking a buyer or preparing for a sale process. The average owner in the commercial segment is older, and having survived the turbulence of the Covid period, many are deciding to bring their company to market. Rather than commit to another round of capital equipment spending with its related long-term debt, many owners are opting to cash out.

Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the commercial printing segment during the past twelve months was RR Donnelley’s huge jump into the free-standing insert business with the acquisition of the Vericast business (See The Target Report: Half a Loaf is Better than None – March 2024).

Packaging

For the third year in a row, the packaging business is again the most active among the segments we track. However, consistent with the reduction in overall deal activity, we found 26% fewer publicly announced transactions in the packaging segments we track. The red-hot market for label printing companies has continued to cool off and is now matched by the number of transactions involving corrugated packaging.



Owners and investors in the packaging industry tell a very different story than those in commercial printing, when they talk about their rationale for completing an acquisition. Of the 43 transactions that we recorded over the past twelve months in the packaging segment, only one was reported to be a tuck-in and that was the consolidation of an older folding carton plant into a nearby existing operation that has capacity from the divestment of its non-packaging business. Similar to all prior years, the majority of the buyers noted that the acquisition of an additional production facility was the critically important reason to complete the deal. Furthermore, the expansion of the company’s geographic footprint was mentioned as very important to the buyer.


Private equity was involved in 22 of the 43 total transactions in packaging, 51% of the total. In absolute terms, private equity’s decrease of eight transactions accounted almost entirely for the total decrease of deal activity in the packaging segment. Five new players entered the packaging business, three of which established brand new investment platforms in packaging.
    

In 14 instances, geographic expansion or diversity of the acquired locations was noted as a key element in the buyer’s logic. An expanded geographic footprint continues to loom large in buyers’ expressed logic for completing acquisitions.

Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the packaging segment during the past twelve months was not one specific deal. Rather, the intensive interest in the corrugated box business by players big and small, regional, national and global, proved of interest to many readers of The Target Report. (See The Target Report: Corrugated Consolidation – June 2024).

Wide-Format and Related Digital Products

For our purposes in forming a picture of the various market segments that comprise the overall print-centric industries, we separate out companies that produce mostly wide-format and related products from the more generalized commercial printing segment. We include retail display and trade show graphic production in this category, as well as reprographics, indoor architectural environment graphics, and home décor products produced on wide-format equipment.

As we have noted in prior Target Reports, the salad days for wide-format printing are over, and the maturation shows in the transactional activity. Digitally printed banners and wraps are no longer unique, flatbed printing devices are ubiquitous, and the high margins that came with being an early entrant offering large inkjet prints have been compressed by competition. Entry-level equipment is no longer expensive, flatbed cutters and other finishing technology are widely installed. Differentiation in the wide-format business has moved from those that had first-mover advantage to businesses that have perfected more complex online direct-to-customer systems, robust planning and installation capabilities, or value-added services such as printing on canvas for use as home or office décor (and even these attributes are no longer sufficient to provide unique differentiation).

The wide-format business has matured. Company owners are following a path long ago traveled by commercial printing companies; growth via acquisition, driven mostly by the stated desire to add a production facility. What is new this year, and a certain sign that the segment is reaching saturation, is the significant increase in the number of tuck-in transactions.



We noted 21 publicly reported transactions in the wide-format segment during the past twelve months, close to double the number we found last year. Private equity remains active in the wide-format segment, which leads us to expect that deal activity will remain robust over the next several years.



Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the wide format segment during the past twelve months was Meyer’s back-to-back announced transactions, the acquisition of Johnson Printing & Packaging, followed shortly thereafter by the divestiture of its temporary display and signage business, which it sold to Imagine. The CEO of Meyers noted that the sale “reinforces our commitment to focus on, and grow, our core business strength of packaging and labels” which was clearly demonstrated just two weeks prior with the addition of the Johnson folding carton business. The dual transactions were a classic demonstration of using M&A to advance a strategic plan to fundamentally change a company’s position in the marketplace.

Direct Mail

In our lexicon and analysis, direct mail printing companies are in a class by themselves, apart from the more generalized undifferentiated “job-shop” commercial printing companies that may offer some mailing capabilities. Many direct mail shops also manage, manipulate, store, and utilize data to drive improved results for their customers. Some have expanded into full-service marketing support companies, blending digital communication channels with mail campaigns.

Transactional activity in the direct mail printing segment has fallen steadily over the past several years, with only three transactions noted this past year that we considered to be so purely involved in volume mail as to be broken out from the commercial printing category. The sample size is too small to draw any firm conclusions, but the decline is worth noting, as well as the inclusion of a tuck-in within the count. We also note that four direct mail companies filed for bankruptcy in the past year, double the prior highest number in a segment in which there are no bankruptcy filings in most years.



Two of the three buyers noted that the rationale for the transaction was to expand by adding a facility. One of those two noted an expanded geographic footprint as well. In one of the direct mail transactions, the buyer, the same one that was backed by private equity, mentioned adding a service element as their rationale to move forward with the deal.

Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the direct mail segment during the past twelve months was Ironmark’s simultaneously announced acquisitions of Deliver Media and L & D Mail Masters. These moves by the PE-back Ironmark brought data predictive analytics to their clients’ multi-channel marketing campaigns and at the same time expanded the company’s geographic footprint with a secure data management and direct mail production environment. These are the attributes driving acquisitions in direct mail today, moving upstream into data analytics, procuring secure certified facilities, and diversifying mail processing geographically.



Challenged Segments

The transactional activity in an industry segment tells us that the business is changing. However, the simple counting of deals does not tell us if that activity is indicative of positive or negative change. To determine a directional indication, we track the number of bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy plant closures and correlate this information with the overall transactional activity. Our thesis, born out over several years and confirmed by industry stats derived from other sources, is that an industry segment with a high number of transactions that is also experiencing closures and bankruptcies is, or will be, in a contraction phase. There will be opportunities for consolidation at bargain prices for those companies that defy the downward trend.

Conversely, segments in which the number of transactions is inversely correlated to closures and bankruptcies are more likely to be expanding. Therefore, consolidation opportunities will come at much higher prices. Virtually all the packaging segments are experiencing steady transactional activity, albeit fewer deals than in prior years, without the corresponding bankruptcy filings and plant closures, indicating that packaging remains a very healthy environment for sellers as the segment continues to consolidate.

The data on bankruptcy filings is beginning to flash a moderate warning sign. Indicators of financial distress in our industry have mostly trended downwards over the past five years, but during the past twelve months that trend has reversed.



The commercial printing segment once again, after a one-year hiatus, retakes the ignominious position as the leader in the number of bankruptcies filed. Not surprisingly, the publishing of newspapers and magazines is now back in second place. Also notable is the four bankruptcy filings in the direct mail segment.



Our candidate for the most interesting bankruptcy filing during the past twelve months was the failure of a company that showed great promise in the embroidery business. The story is about the failure of Coloreel, the developer of technology that dyed white thread in real time to create multi-color sewn emblems without changing spools or using machines with multiple stitching heads. (See The Target Report: Troubled Times for Graphic Machinery Innovators – July 2024).

We also track non-bankruptcy plant closures as a good indicator of financial challenges within each industry segment, possibly even a more prescient predictor than the number of bankruptcies. At the lower end of the market in terms of business size, a bankruptcy filing can be the death knell for a company in the printing industry, and in any case, bankruptcy filings are expensive.

While some companies simply close up and just disappear, others find a buyer for the book-of-business and conduct an orderly wind-down process. A closure does not always mean that the company has ceased operating; a closure may simply be due to one of the larger printing firms rationalizing their production capacity. Either way, closures are indicative of change, usually resulting from downward pressure in a market segment.

The number of non-bankruptcy closures began to climb last year and continued that trend in the past twelve months. In absolute terms, we found 41 publicly announced plant closures during the prior year, once again approaching the numbers from 2019 and 2020.



General commercial printing companies once again represent the majority of printing facilities closing up shop in a non-bankruptcy closure or wind-down. Newspaper printing plants also closed in greater numbers than most other segments. Paper mills continued to cease operations and close up, as noted in the materials manufacturing category in the chart below.



We will see, over the next year, if the slight rumblings get louder or the new normal is exactly that, a return to a normal level of transactions with occasional company failures sprinkled in. The trends we heard last year are still prevalent in our conversations with company owners; the money from the government largess has been absorbed, spent, or saved, loans are coming due for refinancing at higher rates, and print-buying customers are exercising price discipline. We will be watching and reporting as we enter our fourteenth year of publishing the monthly issues of The Target Report. Stay tuned.


2024 August - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Carpenter Media GroupNo DataNatchez, MSNowata PrintingNo DataSpringfield, MO8/30/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Newspaper & insert printingLink
Carpenter Media GroupNo DataNatchez, MSPhillips Media Papers (16 titles)
(Prop. Phillips Media)		No DataHarrison, AR8/30/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
eProductivity Software (ePS)No DataPittsburgh, PAEnterprise Print Management Systems (EPMS)No DataMiddleborough, MA8/29/24No DataAcquisitionPrint MIS softwareLink
Marketing.com$640.0Eureka, MOAction PrintingNo DataFond du Lac, WI8/28/24No DataAcquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Commercial printingLink
Mill Rock Packaging
(Port co. Mill Rock Capital)		No DataNew York, NYWoodland Packaging
(Div. Everett Graphics)		No DataOakland, CA8/28/24No DataAcquisitionFolding cartonsLink
M2S Group
(Port co. Wynnchurch Capital)		No DataAppleton, WIIconex label business
(Port co. Atlas Holdings)		No DataDuluth, GA8/27/24No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Minuteman Press, Roxbury
(New franchisee)		No DataWest Roxbury, MAHercules PressNo DataBoston, MA8/26/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Range PrintingNo DataBrainerd, MNJohnson PrintingNo DataRochester, MN8/21/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Duncan-ParnellNo DataCharlotte, NCCopycat Print ShopNo DataWilmington, NC8/15/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Imagine
(Port co. Cerberus Capital Mngt.)		$400.0Minneapolis, MNRetail display business
(Div. Meyers)		No DataMinneapolis, MN8/14/24No DataAcquisitionWide format retail displayLink
Group BayportNo DataSuwanee, GAOptamarkNo DataNorwalk, CT8/14/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial printing & promoLink
McClatchy
(Port co. Chatham Asset Mngt.)		No DataSacramento, CAAccelerate360
(Port co. Chatham Asset Mngt.)		No DataSmyrna, GA8/5/24No DataMergerNews & magazine publishingLink
Kingswood Capital ManagementNo DataLos Angeles, CAKodak Alaris
(Port co. UK Pension Protection Fund)		No DataRochester, NY8/1/24No DataAcquisitionPhoto & document servicesLink
Thomas Printworks$54.5Richardson, TXTriangle ReprographicsNo DataOrlando, FL8/1/24No DataAcquisitionReprographicsLink
Premier Press$53.0Portland, ORGlad I Did It!No DataPortland, OR8/1/24No DataAcquisitionPromo managementLink

   
2024 August - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
No Chapter 11 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
Chapter 7 Filings:
Mail Call Direct, LLC8/5/24No Data24-32900Henrico, VA4thEastern VA
Richmond		Kevin R. HuennekensBrittany B. FalabellaDirect mail

   
2024 August - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
The Telegram printing facility8/24/24No DataSt. John's, NLSaltwireHalifax, NSAug-24Newspaper printing plantLink
Christensen Printing 9/25/24No DataLincoln, NEN/ANoneAug-24Book manufacturingLink
Greater Dallas Press10/23/24No DataGarland, TXN/ANoneAug-24Newspaper printing plantLink
↧

Print Providers Seek Variety Via Acquisitions – September 2024 M&A Activity

October 7, 2024, 3:32 pm
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As the commercial print industry continues to evolve, more printing companies are moving upstream into multi-channel digital marketing services to better serve their customers. Digital marketing services enable printing companies to escape the traditional printing company job‑shop business model and differentiate themselves from competitors that only print. As digital print engines of all types become ubiquitous, the integration of digital marketing methods with variable print campaigns is a natural next step for industry leaders who are thinking ahead. The right acquisition can prove to be the quickest and surest path to build out the desired diversity of services.

From Color Separators to Multi-Channel Digital Marketers

In September, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Artisan Colour acquired MarComm, a digital marketing agency that specializes in cross-channel marketing strategies and campaign integration. The company’s stated goal is to “dissolve the boundaries between print and digital to provide a unified approach where print and digital strategies are seamlessly integrated, data is leveraged across channels, and every touchpoint is optimized.” Services offered, in addition to the company’s traditional print-centric products, now include marketing strategy, CRM/HubSpot implementation, web design, SEO, content marketing, social media, and not to be ignored, integration of those digital marketing services with print.

According to the company’s website, the owners’ journey to the diversity achieved with this acquisition began at the end of the last century when their knowledge in the now extinct art of color separations gave them the confidence to start their own company. The color separation business led naturally to the addition of a full-service on-site photo studio. Combined with these services, color management expertise helped the company land the catalog production work for demanding high-end retail companies Neiman Marcus, Chicos, and Patagonia. In 2009, following the path of many color separation companies (or at least those that managed to survive the transition to digital imaging), Artisan Colour acquired Mighty Imaging, a local wide-format printing company. Digital sheetfed printing was eventually added, a necessary element needed to set the stage for the move into comprehensive integrated multi-channel marketing services.

Digital Acquisitions Transcend Geographic Boundaries

In July, New York-based Lorraine Gregory Communications acquired Axle Eight, a digital marketing services company located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Lorraine Gregory, historically a print-centric company, has been steadily expanding its offering of marketing services. This latest acquisition gives the company a foothold in the Southwest US market, and enhances the company’s marketing expertise in advertising, SEO, content creation, email marketing, strategy, public relations, and social media. The Axel Eight staff had transitioned to at-home work during the Covid pandemic, and the plan is to continue working remotely as part of the Lorraine Gregory team.

Lorraine Gregory has its roots in direct mail and lettershop services. Acquired by the current owner in 1992, the company took a direction not often taken by print-centric businesses, adding a video studio, and entering the business of TV commercial production. By combining traditional print, video production, and now digital marketing services, Lorraine Gregory is positioned as a multi-channel marketing service provider.

Just over a year ago, the Marek Group, a diverse graphics company based in Waukesha, Wisconsin, acquired HighNote, a marketing services company based in Louisville, Kentucky. This acquisition is another example of a company that started purely as a printing operation that has steadily and intentionally moved upstream into marketing execution services. The addition of HighNote enhances Marek's ability to blend print and digital marketing offerings to meet the growing demand for integrated marketing solutions. The purchase is also illustrative of the geographic regional expansion trend we see in the commercial printing segment, as this acquisition expands the Marek Group’s reach into the South-Central US markets.

The strategic goals achieved by Lorraine Gregory and the Marek Group with the acquisitions of Axel Eight and HighNote, respectively, adding digital marketing services and achieving regional geographic diversity, is consistent with current market trends and the rationale behind many of the M&A deals within the commercial printing segment over the past three years. (For more, see: The Target Report Annual Review – TTM August 2024 M&A Activity.)

Marketing Execution at Scale

CJK Group, one of the largest players in the US market for print services, acquired the Kodi Collective division of LSC Communications in February 2024. In addition to print solutions, the Kodi Collective website extolls the company’s digital marketing production, photography & video studio services, experiential marketing, and marketing execution outsourcing. The acquisition of the Kodi Collective was another step in CJK’s long-term diversification of services offered.

However, the acquisition of Kodi Collective seemed out of character for the CJK Group as it appeared to be a major departure from CJK’s consistent focus on acquiring companies in book manufacturing and publication printing. In the space of ten years, CJK Group had grown via acquisition to become one of the dominant US companies in book manufacturing and journal printing. The company has kept up a steady drumbeat of acquisitions since 2013, when CJK’s predecessor company, Bang Printing, completed a Section 363 asset purchase in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding of book printing company Hess Print Solutions. In 2017, CJK acquired Sheridan, which established CJK as a major player in the journal printing business. Many more acquisitions followed, including the recent acquisitions of book manufacturing companies Worzalla, based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and McNaughton & Gunn, a book manufacturing company in Saline, Michigan. (For more, see: The Target Report: Book Manufacturing in Turmoil – May 2024.)

In 2020, CJK added upstream services with the purchase of Cenveo’s global content services business. That acquisition added layers of services on top of CJK’s core ability to print publications, including project management, content development, editorial services, peer review management, art and design services, rights and permissions management, translation and accessibility services, eLearning, and online hosting. (For more, see: The Target Report: CJK Goes Global as Cenveo Unwinds – September 2020 .)

In March 2023, when LSC Communications announced the formation of the Kodi Collective brand, it seemed, at least from our perspective, that the new division was an odd mix of hard-core high-volume printing assets, print management outsourcing, marketing execution, and creative services. Wasting no time, CJK has begun to rationalize the Kodi brand by shedding non-core assets and retaining a coherent mix of print and marketing execution services. In late September, CJK announced the divestiture of Kodi’s high-volume printing operation in Maple Grove, Minnesota, selling the plant to Arandell, the catalog and publication printing company now owned by Saothair Capital. Also in September, CJK announced that the digital printing division, which had been subsumed into the Kodi Collective brand by LSC Communications, would be spun out and resume operating under its original brand identity, Digital Lizard. As we write this Target Report, CJK has announced the closure of the Kodi printing facility in Danville, Kentucky, in a further focusing of the Kodi brand and services.

As Print Goes Digital, Digital Accepts Print

The increasing use of digital print engines has brought new skills into many printing companies. It is now not uncommon to have data analytic and coding expertise in-house, skills that are needed on a daily basis to drive personalized and automated-response print campaigns. At the same time, the proliferation of digital marketing service companies has led to the need for all‑digital marketing companies to differentiate themselves from the crowd. With the proven effectiveness of tangible printed content that is combined with a multi-channel approach to marketing, the technical and cultural divide between providers of digital marketing execution services and printers has lessened. Printer and digital marketing types have learned to play nicely together in the same sandbox.

Recent transactions exemplify how commercial print providers are leveraging acquisitions to effectively and efficiently build out digital marketing capabilities. Digital marketing companies are finding that print is indeed not a dead medium, but rather that a printing company with digital expertise can be a solid platform and landing spot for their businesses when it is time to sell.

   
2024 September - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Hoffmann Media Group
(Div. Hoffman Family of Companies)		No DataFort Myers, FLNapa Valley Register (+2 titles)No DataNapa, CA9/30/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Dynamic DiesNo DataHolland, OHAllied Steel Rule DiesNo DataIndianapolis, IN9/30/24No DataAcquisitionCutting diesLink
Local News NowNo DataArlington, VAGazetteLeader
(Prop. O'Rourke Media Group)		No DataArlington, VA9/25/24No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
Arandell
(Port co. Saothair Capital  Partners)		$118.0Menomonee Falls, WI Maple Grove Print Operations
(Div. CJK Group)		No DataMaple Grove, MN9/24/24No DataAcquisitionDirect mail printingLink
Epson$8,683.0Suwa, JapanFiery
(Port co. Siris Capital Group)		No DataFremont, CA9/19/24$591.0AcquisitionDigital image softwareLink
MaxcessNo DataOklahoma City, OKInternational Cutting DieNo DataMelrose Park, IL9/18/24No DataAcquisitionRotary cutting diesLink
CoberNo DataKitchener, ONPrint & Signage Business
Div. West Canadian Digital		No DataCalgary, AB9/18/24No DataDivestitureDigital printing & wide formatLink
Sebis DirectNo DataBedord Park, ILStandard Printing Company (SPC)No DataPhoenix, AZ9/18/24No DataAcquisitionTransactional printLink
ADDEV MaterialsNo DataLyon, FranceAdhesive Tape & Label (ATL)No DataMenomonee Falls, WI 9/17/24No DataAcquisition
(TKO Miller)		Label printingLink
NparallelNo DataMinneapolis, MNAtomic Props and EffectsNo DataSaint Paul, MN9/16/24No DataAcquisitionRetail & experiential graphicsLink
SeaChange$43.6Minneapolis, MNPacesetterNo DataAllentown, PA9/10/24No DataAcquisitionDirect mail & fulfillmentLink
Artisan ColourNo DataScottsdale, AZMarCommNo DataGilbert, AZ9/10/24No DataAcquisitionDigital marketing servicesLink
Novolex
(Port co. Apollo Global Mngt.)		No DataHartsville, SCAmerican TwistingNo DataSouth Haven, MI9/4/24No DataAcquisitionPaper bag handlesLink
PrintWestNo DataWoodinville, WALitho CraftNo DataLynnwood, WA9/4/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Blower-DempsayNo DataSanta Ana, CAUS Display GroupNo DataCorona, CA9/3/24No DataAcquisitionRetail displayLink
Smart SourceNo DataSuwanee, GAKaye-SmithNo DataBellevue, WA9/3/24No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Print managementLink
XSYSNo DataWillstaett, GermanyMacDermid Graphics Solutions
(Div. Elements Solutions)		No DataAtlanta, GA9/3/24$325.0AcquisitionFlexographic printing platesLink
Veritiv
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		No DataAtlanta, GAOrora Packaging Solutions (OPS)
(Div. Orora)		No DataBuena Park, CA9/3/24$1,200AcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink

   
2024 September - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
No Chapter 11 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
Chapter 7 Filings:
Mail Right International Inc.9/18/24No Data24-19233South Plainfield, NJ 3rdNew Jersey
Trenton		Christine M. GravelleDouglas A. GoldsteinInternational mail services
Turn Marketing Services Inc9/13/24No Data24-12306Fullerton, CA9thCentral CA
Santa Ana		Theodor AlbertKevin TangFulfillment & printing
Western Pacific Pulp & Paper, Inc9/9/24No Data24-12268Santa Ana, CA9thCentral CA
Santa Ana		Scott C. ClarksonChristopher J. LangleyPaper recycling

 
2024 September - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
BC Graphics11/15/24No DataSouth Baltimore, MDMooreLanham, MD9/18/24Direct mail printing
(Formerly Barton Cotton)		Link
New England Duplicator9/16/24No DataManchester, NJN/ANone9/16/24Printing & copyingEmail
Notice

↧

Paper Industry Transformation Moves Forward – October 2024 M&A Activity

November 7, 2024, 4:20 pm
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It didn’t take long. The ink was hardly dry. International Paper’s shareholders had just approved its acquisition of DS Smith, the UK-based manufacturer of corrugated case materials and related fiber-based products. Only days before, DS Smith had obtained its own shareholders’ approval to proceed with the deal. Within the following week, International Paper announced the closure of no fewer than six facilities, spread out from North Carolina to Texas, mostly in the corrugated box segment. The job of rationalizing the total combined production capacity of the merged operations was clearly underway in advance of the deal’s consummation. Unlike many plant closures in the paper manufacturing industry, we view these changes as a signal that the demand for corrugated packaging products will remain strong. Consequently, International Paper is positioning itself as a leading global player in the segment. (For more, see: The Target Report: Paper Manufacturers Shift Grades – April 2024.)

International Paper Gets Lean Before Merger with DS Smith

Five months into the job, new Chairman & CEO Andrew Silvernail continues to shake up things at International Paper as restructuring, cost cutting and workforce reductions continue. The mega US-based pulp and paper company seeks to expand its European presence, cementing its position as the world’s largest paper giant (by revenue) at a time of consolidation in the paper industry. Fiscal-year revenues are expected to exceed $18.8 billion for 2024. When combined with DS Smith, International Paper’s pro-forma annual revenues are projected to be approximately $28.2 billion, with 90% of sales coming from corrugated products.

International Paper is permanently shutting down facilities in six states: two packaging plants in Rockford, Illinois, and Kansas City, Missouri, respectively; two corrugated container plants, one in Statesville, North Carolina, and the other in Cleveland, Tennessee; one corrugated sheet feeder plant in San Antonio, Texas; and a cellulose pulp mill in Georgetown, South Carolina. The combined result of the recently announced mill closures is an expected $230 million improvement in adjusted earnings.

Additionally, some 400 people at its Memphis headquarters are being let go. In all, 989 employees face being without their jobs by mid-December – that number represents about 2.5% of the company’s workers in 35 states and 10 countries worldwide. These moves follow another 900 layoffs announced 13 months ago, when a containerboard mill in Texas was closed and two pulp machines (one North Carolina and the other in Florida) were retired.

No More Fluff?

At the end of October, International Paper announced that it is reviewing strategic options for its global cellulose fibers (GCF) business. The company plans to shutter the aforementioned South Carolina mill by year’s end. The Georgetown, South Carolina, facility produces approximately 300,000 tons of high-quality absorbent pulp, often called “fluff” pulp, designed for a range of consumer applications, from baby diapers and incontinence pads to feminine hygiene products. The specialty pulp is also used as a sustainable raw material used in textiles, construction materials, paints and coatings.

International Paper plans to replace 100% of the mill's fluff pulp capacity by transferring production to other sites. Overall, the GCF business generated $2.9 billion in revenue for International Paper in 2023, and has operations in three countries, with eight mills and two converting facilities.

However, International Paper announced that it is reviewing the strategic options for its GCF business, leading us to believe that it may be spun off. On International Paper’s Q3 earnings call with investors, CEO Silvernail hinted at a harbinger of additional changes to come, previewing plans to reinvest some recent cost savings into new greenfield or brownfield box plants. He revealed the company had “multiple opportunities” to do this and will share more details in 2025.

The Georgetown mill that is closing also produces uncoated freesheet papers that it sells to Sylvamo. Production of non-packaging grades for Sylvamo will end December 31, 2024 when the mill closes. Sylvamo itself was formerly the printing papers division of International Paper, and is the maker of primarily uncoated grades, including the well-known brands Accent, Hammermill, Williamsburg, and white-labeled papers for HP. Sylvamo was spun off in October 2021 and cleaved off approximately $4 billion of revenue and 6,500 employees.

It appears that International Paper will double-down and increase its box and board manufacturing operations. That strategic direction is consistent with the report released in October by Precedence Statistics, which projects that the global corrugated box market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.14% over the next decade. International Paper’s spinoff, closures and purchase of DS Smith are consistent with the overall industry movement we have observed in which mill closures and conversions trend away from printing paper grades, and in favor of packaging grades. (For more, see: The Target Report: Paper Industry in Transition – May 2022.)

Printing Plants Close

October was a high-water mark in our reporting on non-bankruptcy closings, exceeding, in number, every month since we began tracking these closures in 2012. In addition to the aforementioned closures by International Paper, several major printing operations will be shutting down.

Quad, the publicly-traded printing company based in Sussex, Wisconsin, announced it is shutting down its 120,000 square-foot plant in Waukee, Iowa. The plant came into the Quad family via the acquisition of Worldcolor in 2010, and primarily prints directories which have been in secular decline ever since the advent of internet-based online data sources. In October, Quad also announced the sale of most of its European operations to private equity firm Capmont. Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President and CEO of Quad, explained that “the decision to divest the majority of our European operations supports our ongoing strategic focus to optimize our business portfolio for growth as a marketing experience company.” However, Quadracci made clear that print will still be a major business for Quad in the near future, stating “we will maintain state-of-the-art printing operations in locations that best support our ever-evolving MX offering.”

Kodi Collective, the former division of LSC Communications recently acquired by the CJK Group, announced that it would be closing its plant in Danville, Kentucky. The plant produced magazines and catalogs. As run lengths in these segments have decreased, CJK noted that the company will have capacity at its other facilities in Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri to absorb the work formerly produced at the Danville site. CJK has previously staked out positions upstream and downstream from print. The company made another move that is additive to its core print offerings with its acquisition of Accucoms International. The acquired company, based in the Netherlands, operates globally and provides sales and marketing services to academic and professional publishers. Accucoms will be integrated into CJK’s KnowledgeWorks Global division. (For more, see: The Target Report: CJK Goes Global as Cenveo Unwinds – September 2020.)

SG360°, a portfolio company of private equity firm ICV Partners since 2016, is closing its Broadview, Illinois plant. The direct mail facility was acquired by SG360° with its acquisition of Lehigh Direct in 2014. Earlier this year, the company announced that it would be consolidating its web offset printing operations and increasing its investment in its digital print capacity. The company noted that despite the downsizing, its corporate headquarters in Wheeling, Illinois will be the home of thirteen inline web presses, still a formidable production platform for high-volume direct mail.

Other reported closures included two newspaper printing plants, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch printing facility, owned by Lee Enterprises, and the Star-Ledger printing facility in Montville, New Jersey, a publication of NJ Advance Media. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch will, for now, continue to produce a printed edition on a seven-day schedule, which will be printed at the Columbia Press, owned by Gannett, Lee’s rival in the newspaper publishing business. The New Jersey papers will not fare as well, at least not in printed form, as the plant closure is the death knell for the printed edition of the Star-Ledger, as well as three other New Jersey regional papers. The New Jersey papers, including the Star-Ledger which has been highly acclaimed for its investigative reporting, are moving to an entirely online publishing model.

Each of these printing plant closures is indicative of the inexorable trend: content that can move online will move online. As a result, paper manufacturers will continue to shift away from printing and newsprint paper production and focus on packaging grades.


2024 October - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Graphic Village
(Port co. Revitalize Capital)		$35.7Cincinnati, OHAAA Laminating & BinderyNo DataFairfield, OH10/31/24No DataAcquisitionBindery & finishing servicesLink
Hood PackagingNo DataAtlanta, GAIndustrial packaging operations
(Div. TC Transcontinental)		$50.0Thomasville, NC10/28/24$95.0AcquisitionIndustrial packagingLink
Carpenter Media GroupNo DataNatchez, MSEO Media Group (15 titles)No DataSalem, OR10/23/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
Shaw MediaNo DataDixon, ILDaily JournalNo DataKankakee, IL10/23/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
CapmontNo DataMunich, GermanyEuropean Operations
(Quad subsidiaries)		No DataSussex, WI10/22/24$45.0AcquisitionDiversified print & marketingLink
Mittera$572.4Des Moines, IARex3No DataSunrise, FL10/18/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Foundation Investment PartnersNo DataChagrin Falls, OHAmerican Spool & PackagingNo DataHartsville, SC10/15/24No DataAcquisitionFolding cartons & specialtiesLink
SupplyOne
(Port co. Wellspring Capital)		No DataNewtown Square,
PA		Gulf PackagingNo DataBay Minette, AL10/9/24No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
CJK GroupNo DataBrainerd, MNAccucomsNo DataDen Haag, Netherlands10/8/24No DataAcquisitionPublishing marketing servicesLink
Minuteman Press, Columbia
(New franchisee)		No DataColumbia, SCApexgraphixNo DataColumbia, SC10/7/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Multi-Color Corporation
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		No DataCincinnati, OHStarport TechnologiesNo DataKansas City, MO10/4/24No DataAcquisitionRFID label manufacturingLink
Oak Street VenturesNo DataSheridan, ARJ.M. Fry Printing InksNo DataHenrico, VA10/2/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting inksLink
Antalis
(Sub. KPP Group Holdings)		No DataBoulogne-Billancourt, FranceXerox EMEA paper business
(Div. Xerox)		No DataRochester, NY10/1/24No DataAcquisitionPaper DistributionLink
DigiCopyNo DataSteven Point, WIThe Print ShopNo DataBlack River Falls, WI10/1/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
WiseNo DataAlpharetta, GABusiness forms business
(Div. Victor Printing)		No DataSharon, PA10/1/24No DataAsset AcquisitionBusiness formsLink


2024 October - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Digital Graphics Plus, LLC10/4/24No Data24-05422Longwood, FL11thMiddle FL
Orlando		Grace E. RobsonJeffrey AinsworthWide-format & apparel
Chapter 7 Filings:
No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------

   
2024 October - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
International PaperDec-24No DataGeorgetown, SCInternational PaperMemphis, TN10/31/24Cellulose Pulp millLink
Quad - Printing facility1/10/25No DataWaukee, ILQuadSussex, WI10/30/24Directory printing
(Formerly Worldcolor facility)		Link
Star-Ledger - Printing facility2/2/25No DataMontville, NJAdvance PublicationsNew York, NY10/30/24Newspaper printing plantLink
International Paper12/18/24No DataKansas City, MOInternational PaperMemphis, TN10/18/24Corrugated boxesLink
International Paper12/18/24No DataCleveland, TNInternational PaperMemphis, TN10/18/24Corrugated boxesLink
International Paper12/18/24No DataStatesville, NCInternational PaperMemphis, TN10/18/24Corrugated boxesLink
International Paper12/18/24No DataRockford, ILInternational PaperMemphis, TN10/18/24Corrugated boxesLink
International Paper11/18/24No DataSan Antonio, TXInternational PaperMemphis, TN10/16/24Corrugated sheet productionLink
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Printing facilityJan-25No DataMaryland Heights, MOLee EnterprisesDavenport, IA10/15/24Newspaper printing plantLink
Kodi CollectiveQ4-24No DataDanville, KYCJK GroupBrainerd, MN10/7/24Magazine & catalog printingLink
Ocean State Bookbinding12/5/24No DataProvidence, RINoneN/AOct-24Book binding servicesLink
SG360° - Printing facilityQ4-24No DataBroadview, ILSG360°
(Port Co. ICV Partners)		Wheeling, ILOct-24Direct mailLink
↧
↧

On-Demand Print & Merch is BIG Business for Private Equity – November 2024 M&A Activity

December 7, 2024, 8:30 pm
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The future of print will increasingly be individually customized with the images we want, delivered wherever we want, printed on demand when we want, and applied to whatever products we choose  – The Target Report, May 2021.

This inexorable trend has accelerated in the Covid and post-Covid periods. Initially, social distancing and the ease of online ordering was a factor, as was the desire to spruce up our personal at-home spaces with personalized décor. Going online first to order unique items is now often the go-to first response, picking up the phone and engaging in personal interaction a comparative nuisance. Ordering many types of printed items is no exception.

Building a robust and efficient online system has increasingly been accomplished with the support of well-heeled private equity funds seeking the higher margins possible with the scale and automation obtainable in an online environment. 

Two Online Print Businesses Merge, Different Models Remain 

Printful and Printify announced on November 5th that the companies will merge in what is being billed as a merger of equals. By the 20th of the month, the shareholders and regulatory authorities had indicated final approval of the transaction, and the new executive team positions were announced. The Printful CEO will be the new CEO of the merged company, taking the top position, while the Printify CEO is now the President and Head of Platform. The two brands will continue to operate separately, at least for now, with the name of the holding company still undetermined.

Both companies are providing what is known as white-label services to hundreds of thousands of independent resellers of on-demand printed products. In a white-label business, the manufacturer produces products that can be sold under the reseller’s brand. Designers offer unique products under their own name, logo, and brand identity, never revealing that the product was made by others. With the white-label strategy, the two sites support a thriving network of online designers and retailers, many of which self-identify as being part of the “Print-On-Demand Community.”

When the merger was announced, the influencers on YouTube that act as self-appointed print-on-demand consultants were all in a dither about the merger, but they quickly coalesced in a near unanimous and positive opinion that the merger was good for the Community.

There are several major categories that are the primary driver of revenue on both systems. Apparel is the number one featured category. Personalization is available on a multitude of wearable items, from the expected tee shirts, hoodies, hats, and jackets, to more unique items such as swim trunks and sports bras, all of which can be individualized with print. Other categories include home and office décor, drinkware, stationery, and customized gift items. The merged company can now offer in excess of one thousand distinct products. 

Theirs is a tale of two business models that are fundamentally different. Printful, founded in 2013, is an online print-on-demand service that owns and manages its production facilities, and with fulfillment centers in North America and Europe. Printing technology utilized by Printful in its manufacturing sites includes Kornit Digital fabric printers and the Coloreel embroidery system (For more on Coloreel, see: The Target Report: Troubled Times for Graphic Machinery Innovators – July 2024.)

On the other hand, Printify, founded in 2015, is purely a technology company that acts as an intermediary, connecting its creator community to 85 third-party pre-qualified suppliers. Based on this asset-light model, Printify is able to offer a much broader product range and wider geographic footprint, including manufacturing partners in China, Australia, the US, and multiple countries in Europe. If you want to offer customized dog collars, Printify is the way to go. 

As one Reddit user put it: “Printful makes stuff. Printify lists products made by different manufacturers.” In both cases, the companies have prospered by serving the print-on-demand community in the new diversified universe of design-driven retailers, sometimes dubbed the “creator economy.” 

Institutional Investors Provided the Capital to Fuel the Growth

In May of 2021, Bregal Sagemount, a private equity fund based in New York City, invested $130 million in Printful. Based on the percentage of equity acquired, the investment implied that the enterprise value of Printful exceeded $1 billion, giving the company the right to claim “unicorn” status, a first for any company that was originally based in Latvia (see The Target Report: On Demand Everything – May 2021). 

Printify, also originally based in Latvia, obtained a $45 million venture capital investment from Index Ventures, among other early investors, to fund the company’s growth during its startup phase. In a heartfelt congratulatory posting, a principal investor at Index Ventures has this to say about the merger: “While the two companies share cultural DNA, their journeys affirm that there’s no single blueprint for building a high-growth startup. Their different paths – one building manufacturing capacity, the other a marketplace; one expanding to the US early, the other doubling down on European talent – prove that companies can take different routes to the same summit.” 

Reading between the lines, TechCrunch, a technology news website, opined that the recent announcement “underscores the struggles that startups in the on-demand manufacturing space, and the creator economy, are facing as stand-alone companies. Funding for later-stage startups has been especially challenging in Europe over the last several years, and it looks like 2025 will be no exception.” With that understanding as a backdrop, we can see that the use of a merger transaction enables these two companies that serve a common market to build scale without the need for an extensive recapitalization or sale to a bigger private equity firm in a secondary buyout. At least not yet. 

The Money is Betting on Print On Demand


Over the past five years, we have identified 315 investments by private equity funds in companies in the printing, packaging, and related industries. While the number of investments in print-on-demand businesses is a sliver of the total, in the world of online print these transactions are significant. These investments provide the capital needed to scale, automate, and transform print business models. Investors are keen on businesses that harness digital solutions to streamline order intake, optimize production, and enhance customer experience.

Customizable product platforms like those offered by Printful and Printify have set new benchmarks for ease of use, increased the variety of printable items offered, and enabled the ability to personalize at the level of one. Private equity firms are investing in companies that can offer these services at scale, and that hold out the promise for future growth. While the two companies featured in our commentary this month principally print on apparel and promotional items, the same dynamics are at play in the commercial printing market segment with companies such as Digital Room and Circle Graphics. Traditional printing companies that ignore these trends risk obsolescence and increased competitive pressure from online printing companies of all sorts.
   
2024 November - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Sunset PrintingNo DataWharton, NJArtcraft - Print businessNo DataNorth Attleboro, MA11/30/24No DataAsset Acquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Print & brand managementLink
CFSNo DataNorton, MAArtcraft - Promo businessNo DataNorth Attleboro, MA11/30/24No DataAsset Acquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Promo managementLink
Digital Color Concepts
(Port co. Sherburne Partners)		No DataMountainside, NJTigerPressNo DataEast Longmeadow,
MA		11/26/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial & folding cartonsLink
Multi-Color Corporation
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		$3,000Rosemont, ILStarport TechnologiesNo DataKansas City, MO11/21/24No DataAcquisitionRFID tag productionLink
River Associates InvestmentsNo DataChattanooga, TNID LabelNo DataLake Villa, IL11/15/24No DataAcquisitionBarcode labels & asset tagsLink
Package Design & Supply
(Port co. Fairchild Capital Partners)		No DataBuffalo, NYTrue North PackagingNo DataRochester, NY11/14/24No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
X-RiteNo DataGrand Rapids, MIColorwareNo DataAmsterdam
The Netherlands		11/14/24No DataAcquisitionColor measurement softwareLink
TentCraftNo DataTraverse City, MIWorld Class DisplaysNo DataCedar Rapids, IA11/8/24No DataAcquisition
(Benchmark Int'l)		Trade show displaysLink
Minuteman Press -
Grand Blanc		No DataGrand Blanc, MIKendall PrintingNo DataFlint, MI11/7/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
LabelinkNo DataAnjou, QCInternational Label & PrintingNo DataElk Grove Village, IL 11/7/24No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Proforma Printhouse$4.0Kalamazoo, MIProforma MarketplaceNo DataRoseville, MI11/6/24No DataAcquisitionPrint & promo managementLink
Clampitt PaperNo DataDallas, TXColorado EnvelopsNo DataBroomfield, CO11/6/24No DataAcquisitionEnvelope manufacturingLink
Aterian Investment PartnersNo DataNew York, NYOutlook Group
(Port co. Heartwood Partners)		$94.8Neenah, WI11/6/24No DataAcquisitionLabels, flexible, folding cartonsLink
DMM Direct
(Affil. PDF Print Communications)		$32.5Signal Hill, CADirect Mail of MaineNo DataScarborough, ME11/5/24No DataAsset Acquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Direct mail printingLink
Printful
(Port co. Bregal Sagemount)		No DataCharlotte, NCPrintifyNo DataWilmington, NC11/5/24No DataMergerOn-demand productsLink
Veritiv
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		No DataAtlanta, GAPAX Global$45.0Naperville, IL11/4/24No DataAcquisitionSpecialty packagingLink
Domtar$7,059Fort Mill, SCIconex Paper
(Port co. Atlas Holdings)		No DataAtlanta, GA11/4/24No DataAcquisitionThermal receipt paperLink
Data Communications Management$493.7Brampton, ONZavy LimitedNo DataAuckland,
New Zealand		11/4/24No DataAcquisitionSocial media marketingLink
SBPI GraphicsNo DataEarth City, MOKopytek / Print it BigNo DataEarth City, MO11/1/24No DataAcquisitionWide format printingLink
Kirkwood$67.0Wilmington, MAJet Mail ServicesNo DataHudson, MA11/1/24No DataAcquisitionMailing servicesLink
INX Group Limited
(Div. Sakata INX)		No DataSchaumburg, ILCoatings & AdhesivesNo DataLeland, NC11/1/24No DataAcquisitionCoatings & adhesivesLink

  
2024 November - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
SGZ Group, Inc., dba Kendall Press11/20/24No Data24-12330
Sub Ch. V		Chelsea, MA1stMassachusetts
Boston		Janet E. BostwickDavid B. MadoffCommercial printing
Chapter 7 Filings:
No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------

  
2024 November - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
The Artcraft Company
(Fiduciary Agent: Graphic Arts Advisors)		11/19/24No DataNorth Attleboro, MANoneN/ANov-24Engraving, wide format, & promoLink
Gannett - Printing facilityMar-25No DataProvidence, RIGannettMcLean, VANov-24Consolidating print to other plantsLink
↧

Zig-Zagging – December 2024 M&A Activity

January 6, 2025, 6:19 pm
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From Printing to Print Management to Business Process Outsourcing

Printing companies increasingly seek to diversify their service offerings via acquisitions of companies that support their customers’ communication needs outside of print. However, despite the increasing use of electronic media, print remains one of the critical channels in today’s messaging mix. Print-centric companies that proactively grow via an M&A strategy go back and forth, shifting directions, alternately completing transactions that bring in additional print volume, and then subsequently acquire a company with services that are adjacent to print, but not core to the mission of putting ink on paper.

RR Donnelley is Back in the Acquisition Game

In late December, RR Donnelley (RRD), now owned by Chatham Asset Management, announced its second big deal of 2024, the acquisition of Williams Lea. The deal is a classic example of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” or more correctly “buy ‘em.”

The acquired company, based in London, is one of a handful of firms that have successfully placed themselves firmly between printing companies and their large enterprise-level customers. As the intermediary between printer and customer, these firms purport to drive competition between print providers more effectively than can be achieved if the corporations leave print buying to their own internal staff.

The CEO of RRD noted that the acquisition of Williams Lea aligns the company’s strategy to build on their business support offerings to achieve their “vision of the Digital, Creative and Business Support Services segment.” The combination will enable their clients to “maximize their own customer engagement strategies and streamline their business operations.” No mention of acquired print volume.

For Williams Lea, the acquired company, the transaction is a full-circle return to its printing roots. German immigrant John Wertheimer came to London in 1820 with a letter of introduction to a member of the wealthy Rothschild family. Wertheimer used the resultant connections to start his printing business under the moniker Wertheimer & Co. Products produced were traditional printed items including books, stationery, and publications. With its German and Jewish roots, the company specialized in foreign language translation and printing, including Hebrew and German, a fact with subsequent impact on the company’s fortunes.

In 1864, the same year that Richard Robert Donnelley started his printing business in Chicago, John Edward Lea joined the London printing company, and the name was changed to Wertheimer Lea & Co. to reflect the new ownership. In 1884, a partnership was formed with John Henry Williams, a year after Wertheimer’s death. With the outbreak of the First World War, amid the anti-German sentiment in Britain, the Wertheimer name was dropped, and the firm’s name was changed to Williams Lea.

The company continued to grow, eventually housed in five separate manufacturing plants. In 1899, the company built its iconic six-story building in London on the corner of Clifton and Worship streets and consolidated its operations. At the time of construction, the building was considered state-of-the-art with electricity powering all the machines. That building still stands today, having survived the Blitz aerial bombing attack on London during the Second World War. As a specialist in foreign language printing, the company printed many of the propaganda leaflets dropped over Germany, as well as printed information that was distributed among the French underground resistance fighters.

As the London financial community blossomed during the last two decades of the twentieth century, the company launched an outsourcing business, initially focused on serving the City community (London’s Wall Street). That turned out to be a fortuitous decision and led to the transition of the company into its current form, primarily focused on serving financial, legal, and professional service firms.

In the year 2000, Williams Lea invented the disruptive print management model and landed a ground-breaking contract with AXA insurance, in which the company assumed all responsibility for the management of all AXA’s print production activities in the UK. According to their press release at the time, “this radical solution involved a substantial number of staff transfers” (from AXA’s payroll to Williams Lea’s). Reduction in the customer’s head count of non-core staff (e.g., print buyers, copy center operators) became a key selling point and led to other firms jumping on the print management bandwagon (e.g., Innerworkings, now part of HH Global). In this way, the Williams Lea strategy was more than just external cost reduction achieved through aggressive buying practices. As Williams Lea discovered, hiring a client’s print purchasing personnel enabled them to promise and deliver fully burdened cost reductions that most printers simply could not match.

Shortly thereafter, Williams Lea brought its outsourcing model to the US. As the owner of a commercial printing company at the time, I personally became aware of Williams Lea and its ability to insert itself into a formerly solid printer/customer relationship. A large regional eastern-US bank, which was then a significant customer of my printing company, told my business partner who managed the account that the bank would no longer be buying print directly. In what is now a familiar drill for many printing companies, we were introduced to a young analyst who worked for Williams Lea. We were told that to keep the bank’s print business, we needed to reduce our pricing by double-digits, commit to a punishing progressive rebate schedule, and submit to aggressive ongoing bidding and negotiations. Eventually, the demands were unsustainable, and we had to walk away from that formerly profitable customer. We had been intermediated.

With its print management and business process strategy fully developed, Williams Lea grew into a multi-national company with more than 8,000 employees across three continents. In 2006 the Williams family sold a controlling interest in the business to Deutsche Post, the German postal and logistics company. Deutsche Post envisioned synergies between its logistics and supply chain business and William Lea’s expertise in handling large volumes of sensitive documents.

Under Deutsche Post’s ownership, as mail volumes declined, a strategic plan was launched to move upstream in the value chain of document and marketing material production. To accomplish this, in 2011 Williams Lea acquired Tag Worldwide which provided creative, prepress and production services. Tag not only worked with advertising agencies, but it also competed with its clients in the creative sphere.

As it turned out, e-commerce volumes exploded, Deutsche Post reconsidered its strategy and decided that William Lea’s services fell outside its core operations. Consequently, in 2017 the business was sold to Advent International, the global private equity giant headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. (For more see: The Target Report: Williams Lea Tag is on the Move – August 2017.)

Having been divested from Deutsche Post and now under Advent’s stewardship, Williams Lea completed its own divestiture and in 2023 sold Tag Worldwide to the Dentsu Group, the global advertising and public relations company based in Tokyo, Japan. This sale marked a strategic decision to separate the creative production arm, Tag, from Williams Lea’s core focus on document management and business process outsourcing services. Effectively, the sale of Tag was an about-face, a reversal of the upstream strategy, returning Williams Lea to its clear focus on the more pedestrian enterprise of business process outsourcing.

Back in the World of Print

This latest acquisition is in stark contrast to RRD’s purchase in March 2024 of the retail insert business (formerly Valassis) from Vericast. (For more see: The Target Report: Half a Loaf is Better than None – March 2024.) While the rhetoric surrounding RRD’s acquisition focused on the many forms of digital marketing included in the acquisition, the core of the acquired business was the newspaper advertising insert, coupon, and free-standing insert print business. The Zig to the Williams Lea Zag.
   
2024 December - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Walsworth$240.0Marceline, MODocumationNo DataEau Claire, WI12/23/24No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Xerox$6,370Norwalk, CTLexmark
(Sub. Ninestar Corp.)		No DataLexington, KY12/23/24$1,500AcquisitionPrinting devices & servicesLink
R.R. Donnelley
(Port co. Chatham Asset Management)		No DataChicago, ILWilliams Lea
(Port co. Advent International)		No DataLondon, UK12/20/24No DataAcquisitionBusiness process outsourcingLink
GrimcoNo DataFenton, MOGraphic Solutions GroupNo DataDallas, TX12/20/24No DataAcquisitionGraphic supplies distributorLink
Multi-Color Corporation
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		$3,000Rosemont, ILEximproNo DataLos Reyes Acaquilpan, Mexico12/19/24No DataAcquisitionShrink sleeve labelsLink
Porat ItayNo DataRamat Gan, IsraelAdvanced Vision Technology
(Div. Esko)		No DataGhent, Belgium12/19/24No DataAcquisitionPrint inspection systemsLink
Toppan Group$11,430Tokyo, JapanTFP Business Unit
(Div. Sonoco Products Company)		$1,300Hartsville, SC12/18/24$1,800AcquisitionThermoform & Flex packagingLink
Total Printing SystemsNo DataNewton, ILPerfection PressNo DataLogan, IA12/11/24No DataAcquisitionBook manufacturingLink
Reflex Group$236.3West Yorkshire, UKCB Printed TechnologyNo DataCommerce, CA12/9/24No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Carpenter Media GroupNo DataNatchez, MSM. Roberts MediaNo DataLongview, TX12/6/24No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Allegra, Vaughan
(New franchisee)		No DataVaughan, ONAllegra VaughanNo DataVaughan, ON12/6/24No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Peczuh Printing & PaperboxNo DataPrice, UTPerma Graphics /
Custom Plastic Laminating		No DataSalt Lake City, UT12/3/24No DataAcquisitionBindery & finishing servicesLink

   
2024 December - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
No Chapter 11 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
Chapter 7 Filings:
Denbar Publishing, Inc.
(dba Senior News)		12/7/24No Data24-18287Elgin, IL7thNorthern IL
Chicago		Janet S. BaerStephen J. CostelloSpecialty newspaper publisher

   
2024 December - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
GraphicsDec-24No DataCalmar, IANoneN/A12/9/24Newspaper printingEmail
Notice
↧

Print Everything Everywhere All at One Place – January 2025 M&A Activity

February 7, 2025, 12:14 pm
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We are inundated with printed images. While the steady decline of newspapers and other forms of print gives a general societal impression that print is a dying industry, the truth is that we are surrounded by more print in more places on more things than ever before. The use of printed images in our environment has proliferated.

Enabled by continual development of digital print technologies, almost everything we use has images printed on it in one form or another. Just about anything we can imagine being printed, can be printed, and is. Online ordering systems drive evermore printed editions of one. (For more see: The Target Report: On-Demand Print & Merch is BIG Business for Private Equity – November 2024.) In our malls and shopping centers, entire retail environments are created, and recreated, again and again, in short time, with the use of printed graphics. Cultural venues, such as museums, are rich with graphic displays that keep up with the times and changing exhibitions. Tall buildings are wrapped and draped. Vehicles of every sort carry branding and messages.

Private Equity Investors Believe in Print

About ten years ago, one of the leading partners in a well-known PE firm that invests in the lower end of the middle market told me that they would not even consider an investment in a company that provided marketing-related commercial print services. Too risky. Old technology. Messaging is moving online. No potential for meaningful returns.

What a difference a decade makes. Print has evolved into a multi-faceted visual communication industry that eagerly applies graphics to almost every surface in any location, with incredible images, rendered in high fidelity, and in quick order. In January, that same PE firm, The Riverside Company, announced its investment in The Vomela Companies. The smart money has rediscovered print, or as it is now more accurately described: visual communications, or specialized graphic solutions, or visual solutions, and other such non-print monikers.

Visual Communications on the Move

The Vomela Companies, as a whole, represent an incredible range of printed graphic capabilities. The company’s slogan is “Big Ideas, Any Surface, Any Scale.” The company is now comprised of multiple divisions, with over 1,300 employees and more than 20 locations across North America.

Core to the company’s success over the past several decades has been its transportation group. The division prints and installs graphics on fleets of trucks, motorcoaches, trains, buses, delivery vans, and cars. Founded in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1947, Vomela enjoyed a close relationship for many years with the 3M company, specifically working together in the development of techniques to print on pressure sensitive vinyl stocks and die cut unique shapes for custom decal applications. According to company history, the 3M company was the major customer of Vomela and dominated its manufacturing capacity for two decades up to the early 1980’s. That relationship led Vomela into the fleet business, for which it provided decals for truck fleet marking as well as specialized decals for the automotive and motorcoach markets as an OEM supplier.

In concert with 3M, Vomela’s dedication to develop durable custom decals for the automotive manufacturers gave many cars a unique style that was only achievable by the application of printed graphics. There were, of course, the usual racing stripes and big bold lettering, but some decals went much further, became iconic emblems, and defined a brand.

The original Firebird nameplate emblem was derived from a stylized image of a bird based on a Hopi Native American symbol. With its wings turned downward, head turned sideways, and its one eye apparently half closed, the logo became known inside GM as the “Sick Chicken.” Seeking to design a more uplifting positive image for Pontiac’s signature sporty car, Bill Porter, the Pontiac Studio Design Chief at the time, designed a new logo. He lifted the bird’s wings up into a victory pose. He positioned its head to be looking upward with flame shooting from its mouth. He took further design inspiration from the feathery pattern on a Tiffany vase in his private collection. The result was the addition of a surround of fiery lines sweeping up and around the bird.

With this new refreshing and energetic logo in hand, the design team applied a large test bird decal to the hood of a bright red Pontiac Firebird. They drove the newly decorated car up and down the strip in Detroit, stopping at local diners, drive-ins, gas stations, and hangouts. The reaction to the car from young folks convinced the design team to float the idea of adding the large graphic bird image to the car, a radical departure from the standards of the time. It took a couple years to convince Pontiac’s top management to allow the bird decal to be put on the hood of their cherished hot-selling sports car, but eventually they relented and in 1973 the graphic was offered as an option for an additional $55. The “Hood Bird” caught on and became a standard on the tricked-out models offered for sale, with the decal glued to the hood of every high-performance Special Edition, Anniversary and Pace Car model sold until 1981. No longer the sick forlorn downward-facing bird, the new printed firebird has ever since been affectionately known by car enthusiasts as the “Screaming Chicken.”

Diversity of Graphic Solutions

When 3M pulled its decal manufacturing inhouse in the early 1980’s, Vomela contracted, laying off a significant portion of its workforce. Getting back on its feet, the company began a four-decade journey, fueled by serial strategic acquisitions, to arrive at its current highly diversified position.

In addition to transportation graphics, the company is a powerhouse in retail wide-format printing applications. The company’s C2 division, with locations across the US and in BC, Canada, specializes in retail signage and on-demand digital printing. Markets are served with products including in-store displays, store décor, wayfinding graphics, and event & experiential marketing. The Pratt Visual Solutions division manufactures permanent retail displays and signage, among other retail decorations.

The company also has a commercial printing group built via a series of acquisitions. Former companies now under the Vomela commercial umbrella include the Master Print, Elk Graphics, and Tepel Brothers printing companies. While Vomela remains largely a wide and grand format printing organization, this regional diverse group of commercial printing facilities provides collateral and direct mail support for its national enterprise-level customer base.

From its initial start as a small company founded by Jack Vomela that began by decorating Christmas gift tags with glitter and flocking, in 2024 the company reported revenue of $364 million. While it may not print on everything, everywhere, all in one place, the company surely is part of the trend to apply graphics in ever new and diverse ways.
   
2025 January - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Associated Printing ProductionsNo DataMiami Lakes, FLAll In One Mail Shop
dba All In One Marketing Solutions		No DataMiami, FL1/31/25No DataAcquisitionDirect mail printingLink
Carpenter Media GroupNo DataNatchez, MSEnterprise Media Group
(10 Titles + 3 shoppers)		No DataBlair, NE1/30/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
TactivNo DataIndianapolis, INConcept PrintsNo DataIndianapolis, IN1/28/25No DataAcquisitionScreen printing & embroideryLink
Minuteman Press, ClawsonNo DataClawson, MIThe Print StopNo DataBerkley, MI1/24/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
RoyerComm
(RoyerComm Prism)		No DataPennsauken, NJPrism ColorNo DataMoorestown, NJ1/22/25No DataMergerCommercial printingLink
Allcard LimitedNo DataCambridge, ONAmpersand PrintingNo DataGuelph, ON1/21/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Komori Chambon Group
(Sub. Komori)		No DataOrléans, FranceCPS Canadian Primoflex SystemsNo DataCambridge, ON1/20/25No DataAcquisitionFlexographic pressesLink
Alliance Machine Systems Intl
(Div. Barry-Wehmiller)		No DataSpokane, WAJD EngineersNo DataJoure,
The Netherlands		1/17/25No DataAcquisitionFolder gluer machineryLink
Wortman PrintingNo DataEffingham, ILPatton PrintingNo DataEffingham, IL1/16/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Koozie Group
(Port co. H.I.G. Capital)		No DataClearwater, FLSkinner & KennedyNo DataSt. Louis, MO1/14/25No DataAcquisitionCalendars & notepadsLink
Jeff HarperNo DataDetroit, MIGraphic Engravers
vdba GEI Graphics		No DataBensenville, IL1/10/25No DataAcquisition
(Generational)		Flexographic printing platesLink
Brook + Whittle
(Port co. Genstar Capital)		No DataGuilford, CTStouse$56.2New Century, KS1/9/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printing & promoLink
Tidewater Direct$52.0Centreville, MDThe Notepad StoreNo DataWallingford, CT1/8/25No DataAcquisitionNotepads & promoLink
The Riverside CompanyNo DataNew York, NYVomela$364.0St. Paul, MN1/7/25No DataAcquisition
(Cascadia Capital)		Wide format & retail displayLink
Vision Graphics
Port co. Banner Capital Mngt.		No DataSalt Lake City, UTQueen of WarpsNo DataSalt Lake City, UT1/2/25No DataAcquisitionWide format - Vehicle wrapsLink
PromoCentricNo DataNewmarket, NHScreen GemsNo DataSeabrook, NH1/2/25No DataAcquisitionScreen printing & embroideryLink
H.I.G. CapitalNo DataMiami, FLBest Version MediaNo DataBrookfield, WI1/2/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity publicationsLink

   
2025 January - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Image Direct Group LLC1/15/25No Data25-10353Frederick, MD4thMaryland
Greenbelt		Lori S. SimpsonLawrence HeffnerDirect mail printing 
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc.1/14/25No Data25-10308Hunt Valley, MD4thMaryland
Baltimore		David E. RiceJordan RosenfeldComic book distribution
Chapter 7 Filings:
No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------

 
2025 January - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Trumbull Printing3/6/25No DataTrumbull, CTNoneN/AJan-25Coldset web printingLink
Joliet Pattern Works
(Fiduciary Agent: Graphic Arts Advisors)		3/5/25No DataCrest Hill, ILNoneN/AJan-25Retail displayLink
Rainbow Graphics2/28/25No DataMundelein, ILQualfonHighland Park, MIJan-25Direct mail forms printingLink
Shout Out Loud2/18/25No DataColumbus, OHNoneN/AJan-25Screen printing Link
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Search

Think Outside the Rectilinear – February 2025 M&A Activity

March 6, 2025, 1:05 pm
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As we have noted in prior Target Reports and emphasized in our Annual Review, the salad days for wide-format printing are over. Digitally printed banners and wraps are no longer unique, flatbed printing devices are ubiquitous, and the high margins that came with being an early entrant in the market for large inkjet prints have been compressed by competition. Entry-level equipment is no longer excessively expensive, flatbed cutters and other finishing technologies are widely installed.

Differentiation in the wide-format business has moved from those that had first-mover advantage to businesses such as those that have perfected more complex online direct-to-customer systems, robust planning and installation capabilities, or value-added services such as printing on canvas for use as home or office décor. The ability to print, stretch, and mount printed fabrics in a multitude of formats, venues, and environments is one such specialization.

Moss, a wide-format fabric printing company based in Franklin, Illinois, has grown to in excess of $100 million in revenue by staying focused almost exclusively on the unique niche application of graphic tensioned fabric installations. That growth has come via the serial execution of acquisitions, each expanding its geographic range and breadth of applications, but remaining laser-focused on the use of printed fabrics held in tension.

With financial backing from private equity firm EagleTree Capital, Moss acquired Rocket Graphics. The acquired company, based in Watford, UK, is Moss’ second purchase of a UK-based company, and expands on its European presence, which also includes operations in Germany and Poland. Rocket Graphics prints super-wide format visuals for stadium events, trade exhibitions, stage productions, retail displays and other large graphic applications. It is no accident that the company boasts of its extensive installation capabilities as the selling owner started his career as an installer. Onsite installation of very large projects is evidently deep in the corporate DNA, which was clearly a driver in the matchup with Moss.

That acquisition followed closely on the heals of the announcement in December 2024 that Moss had acquired Stretch Shapes, an innovative company based in Eugene, Oregon, that brings the use of tensioned fabrics to a whole new level. In addition to the usual and expected use of printed fabrics for branding, the acquired company uses stretched fabric to create borderless projection screens, colorful wall panels, event entrances, ceiling panel sails, and unique outdoor shade structures.

From Pop-Up Tents to Architectural Icons

Bill Moss, an artist and industrial designer, forever changed outdoor recreation with the invention of the pop-up tent in 1955. After a stint in the US Navy, he pursued an education in art at the famous Cranbrook Academy of Art in his home state of Michigan. After graduation, Moss landed his dream job as an illustrator for Ford Times, a travel magazine produced by the Ford Motor Company. An avid outdoorsman, duck hunter, and ice fisherman, he was frustrated by the heavy canvas upside-down-V-shaped pup tent design that dates back to the civil war. His industrial design training kicked in and what emerged was the now ubiquitous lightweight fabric tent held in tension by flexible support poles.

Moss was convinced that he had come up with a hit design and cleverly named his invention the Pop-Tent. In a burst of enthusiasm, he patented the concept and proceeded to order 1,000 Pop‑Tents. To his great disappointment, his first customer, outfitter company Abercrombie and Fitch, placed an order for one Pop-Tent. Things changed for the better when Life Magazine ran an article, with photos, of Bill and his family camping out in a roomy and easy-to-assemble Pop‑Tent. The tent was a hit. Many elegant beautiful new tent designs followed in the ensuing decades, along with articles in Time Magazine, Esquire, and GQ. Tensioned fabric structures designed by Moss were exhibited in the Louvre and the Smithsonian, and his 1978 Stargazer Tent was placed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

The Trade Show Transformation

Bill and his wife Marilyn had moved to Maine and established the Moss Tent Works, utilizing local labor to sew and manufacture the unique tent products. The couple were living the Bohemian lifestyle of the times. They spent their summers in a large multi-room tensioned fabric treehouse tent mounted thirty feet up in the Maine pine trees on a 50-by-50-foot-wide platform. However, there were ups and downs in the business, as Bill had the artist’s inclination to move on to another project before completely realizing the benefits of his last design.

Seeking to save costs, the Moss Tent Works company designed its own trade show exhibit using tensioned fabric to showcase its unique tents. Marilyn, who was focused on the business aspects of the company, took it upon herself to assemble the lightweight elegant display. Accomplishing the task in mere minutes, all while wearing high heels, she impressed the other exhibitors with the new type of trade show display (at least that is the story). Recognizing the potential of using printed stretched fabric for trade show displays, Marilyn spearheaded the company’s pivot into custom trade show exhibits, and in the process introduced tension fabric technology to the global graphics market.

Eventually, the couple divorced, Bill Moss moved to Arizona to pursue his art, and Marilyn took over the management of the business. She guided the company through strategic transformations, focusing increasingly on the more profitable trade show display business. In 1994, the year Bill Moss died, Marilyn sold the tent division to outdoor company REI and focused exclusively on the graphics business. By 2000, Moss Inc. had grown to $15 million in revenue and 164 employees before being sold in its first successful private equity investment transaction.

Global Graphics Powerhouse – Via Acquisitions

In 2008, Los-Angeles private equity firm Century Park Capital Partners acquired the renamed company, Moss, Inc. Century Park guided the company through four strategic acquisitions, exiting the investment in 2016 with the sale to EagleTree Capital (formerly known as Wasserstein & Co.) Under the ownership of EagleTree Capital, Moss has completed three additional acquisitions and moved the company into a new 180,000 SF global headquarters in Franklin Park, Illinois. In 2018 and 2023, the company invested in new production facilities in Changzhou, China and Poznań, Poland, respectively, establishing the company as a global player in the market for large-scale tensioned fabric graphics.

The Moss company has now completed a total of nine acquisitions, each one expanding the company’s reach and depth, but nonetheless staying close to the core mission of creating unique environments, spaces, and branding using graphic imaging technologies. The company provides a great example of executing a proactive coherent M&A strategy to expand within a relatively narrow niche market.

Moss Acquisition History – Strategic Coherence

Year

Acquisition

Location

Strategic Focus

Impact

2002

Exhibit Architecture

Chicago, IL, USA

Manufacturing for exhibit structures

Expanded production capacity

2007

Nichols

Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Premier fabric printing expertise

Enhanced print capabilities with tensioned fabric

2010

Pink

New York, NY, USA

Event décor industry leader

Added creative event solutions

2011

Flying Colors

Berkeley, CA, USA

Sports venue/event branding

Entered sports industry branding market

2014

Andres Imaging & Graphics

Chicago, IL, USA

Digital & print fabrication for branded environments

Added advanced print technology

2015

Marx+Moschner

Lennestadt, Germany

European tension fabric structures

Established international production in Europe

2018

New Facility

Changzhou, China

New production facility to support Asian market

Expanded presence in Asia with 80,000 sq ft facility supporting APPPEXPO Shanghai

2023

MacroArt

Saint Neots, United Kingdom

Large-format graphics and signage

Expanded UK presence and production capacity

2023

New Facility

Poznań, Poland

Production facility

Increased European capacity and distribution

2024

Stretch Shapes

Eugene, OR, USA

Fabric-based products for immersive environments

Expanded live event space capabilities

2025

Rocket Graphics

Watford, UK

Wide-format graphics for experiential spaces

Strengthened UK and experiential graphics presence


Originally, a quirky, but innovative, tent company, Moss was transformed via the insightful recognition by Marilyn Moss of a serendipitous positive response when graphics were applied to tensioned fabrics. With financial backing and guidance of sequential private equity firms, the Moss company has grown into a global provider of what it calls “immersive branded environments,” also known as experiential graphics.
 
In addition to developing unique capabilities that fueled the company’s growth, Moss used its M&A strategy to expand its capacity and extend its geographic footprint. Both of these rationales are consistent with the dominant trends we found in our annual analysis of M&A activity in the wide-format printing segment. (For more see: The Target Report Annual Review – 2024 M&A Activity.)
   
2025 February - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Southern TorchNo DataFort Payne, ALDeSoto PrintingNo DataFort Payne, AL2/28/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
West-Camp PressNo DataWesterville, OHLake Graphics Label and Sign
(Advised by Graphic Arts Advisors)		No DataCleveland, OH2/27/25No DataAsset Acquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Label & wide-format printingLink
Moss
(Port co. EagleTree Capital)		$101.0Franklin Park, ILRocket GraphicsNo DataWatford, UK2/25/25No DataAcquisitionWide & grand format printingLink
UpSwell
(Port co. Clearview Capital)		No DataMarietta, GATaradelNo DataGlen Allen, VA2/20/25No DataAcquisitionLocal direct mail marketingLink
Hearst Newspapers
(Div. Hearst Communications)		No DataNorwalk, CTAustin-American Statesman
(Prop. Gannett)		No DataAustin, TX2/19/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
CERMNo DataOostkamp, BelgiumOMIKAI SystemsNo DataVästerås, Sweden2/18/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting MIS softwareLink
Handgards
Port co. Wynnchurch Capital		No DataRosemont, ILInnoPak
(Port co. Emerald Lake Capital)		No DataDelaware, OH2/18/25No DataAcquisitionDiversified food packagingLink
General DataNo DataCincinnati, OHInternational Label Mfg.No DataTerre Haute, IN2/14/25No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Label printingLink
General DataNo DataCincinnati, OHNational Custom LabelsNo DataBrazil, IN2/14/25No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Specialty label manufacturingLink
Resource Label Group
(Port co. Ares Management)		No DataFranklin, TNImprimerie Ste-JulieNo DataSainte-Julie, QC2/10/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
JTSNo DataHartland, WIAM SolutionsNo DataMadison, WI2/7/25No DataAcquisitionDirect mailLink
Prisma
(Port co. CenterGate Capital)		$137.0Phoenix, AZVivid Ink Graphics$30.0Baton Rouge, LA2/6/25No DataAcquisitionWide-format printingLink
Welch Packaging GroupNo DataElkhart, INSOKY Pack & PalletNo DataGlasgow, KY2/5/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink

   
2025 February - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Pacer Print2/18/25No Data25-10187Simi Valley, CA9thCentral CA
Santa Barbara		Ronald A Clifford IIISteven R. FoxPackaging design & outsourcing
Buffalo Newspress Inc.
(dba BNP Empowered Print)		2/5/25No Data25-10125Buffalo, NY2ndWestern NY
Buffalo		Carl L. BuckiKevin R. LelonekWeb offset printing
Overgaard's Artcraft Printers, Inc.2/18/25No Data25-30202South Bend, IN7thNorthern IN
South Bend		Paul E. SingletonEdward P. BenchikPrinting & copying

   
2025 February - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Fusebox One3/27/25No DataUrbandale, IANoneN/AFeb-25Commercial printingLink
International Paper - Red River MillApr-25No DataCampti, LAInternational PaperMemphis, TN2/13/25Containerboard productionLink
International Paper - Recycling plantApr-25No DataPhoenix, AZInternational PaperMemphis, TN2/13/25Paper & corrugated recyclingLink
International Paper - Box plantApr-25No DataHazleton, PAInternational PaperMemphis, TN2/13/25Corrugated box manufacturingLink
International Paper - Sheet feeder facilityApr-25No DataSt. Louis, MOInternational PaperMemphis, TN2/13/25Corrugated sheet productionLink

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Experiential Graphics Under the Lights – March 2025 M&A Activity

April 6, 2025, 7:57 pm
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There was a time when signage and event graphics were primarily viewed as an extension of commercial print. The business was transactional, deadline-driven, and rooted in production. That time has passed. March’s M&A activity provides further evidence that event graphics have fully crossed into a new category: a hybrid of visual communications, logistics, experience design, and brand execution. Two acquisitions—Wasserman’s purchase of bluemedia and Impact XM’s acquisition of Touch Associates—mark the continued evolution of this space and the growing sophistication of what was once simply called “signage.”

The Super Bowl of Wide Format

Wasserman, a global sports marketing and talent management agency, acquired Arizona-based bluemedia, a firm well known for transforming environments through large-format printing, installation, and branding. Bluemedia was founded in 1997 as a consulting company that provided signage and merchandising for small golf charity events. While bluemedia’s capabilities now span building wraps, experiential displays, and innovative architectural graphics, the company is perhaps best recognized for its work with major sporting events, national sponsorships, and iconic outdoor productions. The company has come a long way from its humble beginning: in addition to brand activations for major national brands, bluemedia’s work was all over New Orleans as they wrapped up the company’s eleventh year as the main décor contractor for the Super Bowl, probably the best and most demanding showcase for high-impact, high-stakes graphic branding! This is print that’s meant to be seen, photographed, and shared—where the physical presence of graphics serves both brand visibility and emotional engagement.

Founded in 2002 by Casey Wasserman, grandson of media mogul and super talent agent Lew Wasserman, the firm started as a boutique agency focused on talent representation in sports and entertainment. Over time, Wasserman expanded its portfolio through acquisitions and organic growth to include brand marketing, sponsorship activation, media strategy, and analytics. The company became a major force in Olympic and global sports marketing, notably playing a role in bringing the 2028 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles. The firm’s strategic positioning is built around influencing audiences at the intersection of media, athletes, and brands. Its acquisition of bluemedia is consistent with this broader vision: enabling the live experience where branding happens in real time, in full scale, and in full view.

Wasserman’s move signals an intent to further embed production and environmental branding directly into its service stack. This is less about reducing outsourcing costs and more about control—controlling the outcome, the quality, and the delivery of high-stakes, high-visibility installations. The plan is to integrate and merge the bluemedia company into the Wasserman Live division, which provides branding, signage, custom fabrication, and live event production across sports, music, entertainment, and cultural events. The merger is a great opportunity for the bluemedia team to expand and build on its huge success with US-based sporting events; Wasserman has a global presence, with operations in more than 70 cities, in 28 countries, on 6 continents.

The acquisition also suggests something else: that the ability to produce graphics is often no longer enough and must be accompanied by the ability to activate a brand in a space. For sports venues, live events, and consumer-facing pop-ups, the print is the experience. As such, bluemedia doesn’t just print banners and wrap buildings, it creates temporary environments that reflect the philosophy and character of the event, thereby enhancing the perceived value of the brand itself.

Impact XM Expands Range

Impact XM, a New Jersey-based company focused on experiential marketing and trade show activations, announced its acquisition of UK-based Touch Associates. The transaction adds a layer of international reach and event logistics expertise, reinforcing Impact XM’s capacity to serve global clients with complex, multi-region event needs. With backing by PE firm The Riverside Company, Impact XM layers this latest expansion on top of its acquisition in October 2024 of Illinois-based environmental design and fabrication company Matrex Exhibits.

Originally founded in 1973 as Impact Unlimited, a small exhibit house, the company went through several evolutions and ownership changes before becoming Impact XM in 2015 when it merged with Canadian experiential agency Aura XM (See The Target Report: Impact XM Adds Gamification to Exhibits & Events – January 2018.) Today, the company serves clients in the pharmaceutical, financial, and technology sectors with services that range from exhibit design and fabrication to strategy, content development, and digital integration. Over the past decade, the company has positioned itself at the intersection of physical and digital experiences, developing in-house capabilities for hybrid events, immersive spaces, and turnkey experiential campaigns.

Touch Associates brings a reputation for content development, live event production, and a consultative approach. The deal appears to be less about redundancy or consolidation and more about extending the range of what Impact XM can offer and increasing the company’s presence in the UK and European markets.

The experiential event market, especially as it relates to brand activations and awareness, has grown significantly more demanding in recent years. Clients expect consistent branding, technical precision, and a seamless experience across print, digital, and environmental touchpoints. Impact XM’s acquisition of Touch Associates responds to that complexity by bringing more of the puzzle under one roof.

From Production to Experience

These two deals align with a broader trend we’ve noted in previous reports: wide-format and display graphics companies that succeed are doing so not by simply printing better, but by serving a much broader range of branding services that create a visual and even total sensory immersive experience. In last month’s edition of The Target Report, we highlighted Moss, another firm that built its growth strategy not just on equipment investment in wide-format printed products but rather on its ability to offer integrated solutions across events, retail environments, and branded interiors. (See The Target Report: Think Outside the Rectilinear – February 2025.)

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this transformation. When trade shows and live events halted, the firms that survived were those that could pivot—offering virtual exhibit support, temporary signage for shifting regulations, or branded environments for hybrid workspaces. Those that adapted came out stronger, and they did so by embracing the idea that graphics are part of a much larger experience framework.

What we’re now seeing in M&A activity is the formal recognition of that evolution. Strategic buyers and investors are looking beyond print capacity. They want organizations that can consult, design, manage, and deliver. Firms like bluemedia and Touch Associates are attractive acquisition candidates not just because of what they can print but because of what they can plan and execute.

Graphics companies that can handle full environmental transformations—including, but not limited to, wayfinding, exhibit design, sponsorship placements, and personalized graphics—are commanding a different kind of relationship with clients. They’re not quoting against a commodity printer down the road; they are building long-term relationships that support national rollouts or a multi-market activation. That shift elevates the conversation, and the margin structure follows.

We’ve seen this model play out in the growing role of private equity in related sectors. Companies like Circle Graphics, Vomela, and others have been built out as platforms that straddle production and creative services. In each case, growth has come not just from acquiring output capabilities but from integrating service offerings that push the value chain further upstream into product development, data management, and branding strategies, as well as downstream to installation and deinstallation. (See Print Everything Everywhere All at One Place – January 2025 .)

The impact of this trend reaches beyond event graphics. It points to the diminishing utility of purely transactional print models, particularly in large-format segments where physical production is no longer the differentiator. It also reflects client expectations; brands increasingly want fewer vendors, broader capabilities, and the assurance that delivery will match the vision.

For independent print service providers still focused on hardware and throughput, this shift presents a challenge. Competing on production specs is no longer sufficient in a market where the client is buying an outcome, not a substrate. The companies gaining attention and investment via an acquisition from private equity firms or global players such as Wasserman, are those that bring print into the context of experience. For an industry long defined by mechanical capability, this is a cultural shift, and one that’s beginning to reshape how the core wide-format segment grows, invests, and competes.
   
2025 March - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Alliance Machine Systems Intl
(Div. Barry-Wehmiller)		No DataSpokane, WAAutomatanNo DataPlover, WI3/19/25No DataAcquisitionLaminating equipmentLink
Alliance Machine Systems Intl
(Div. Barry-Wehmiller)		No DataSpokane, WASystec ConveyorsNo DataIndianapolis, IN3/19/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated handling equipmentLink
ValorFlex PackagingNo DataDickson, TNJet Packaging GroupNo DataDickson, TN3/13/25No DataAcquisitionFlexible packagingLink
Image360, Westminster
(New Franchisee)		No DataWestminster, MDImage360, WestminsterNo DataWestminster, MD3/11/25No DataAcquisitionWide-format printing & signsLink
Paxton Media GroupNo DataPaducah, KYSouthern Standard (+ 1 Title)
(Prop Morris Multimedia)		No DataMcMinnville, TN3/10/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
Minuteman Press, Dayton
(New franchisee)		No DataDayton, OHWestendorf PrintingNo DataDayton, OH3/10/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Crestview PartnersNo DataNew York, NYSmyth Companies
(Port co Novacap)		No DataEagan, MN3/6/25No DataAcquisitionLabels, flexible, shrink sleevesLink
Constantia Flexibles
(Port co One Rock Capital Partners)		No DataVienna, AustriaAluflexpackNo DataReinach, Switzerland3/4/25No DataAcquisitionFlexible packagingLink
PrintMailProNo DataAustin, TXOneTouchPoint - Austin, TX Div.
(Port co. ICV Partners)		No DataCincinnati, OH3/4/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Impact XM
(Port co The Riverside Company)		No DataDayton, NJTouch AssociatesNo DataLeatherhead, UK3/4/25No DataAcquisitionEvent branding & executionLink
WassermanNo DataLos Angelos, CABluemediaNo DataTempe, AZ3/4/25No DataAcquisitionEvent branding & signageLink
Reno TypeNo DataReno, NVA. Carlisle and CompanyNo DataReno, NV3/4/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Minuteman Press, Coldwater
(New franchisee)		No DataColdwater, MIGraphics 3No DataColdwater, MI3/3/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink


2025 March - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Pap-R Products Company3/3/25No Data25-60040Martinsville, IL7thSouthern IL
Benton		Mary E. LopinotLarry E. ParresSpecialty printed products
Chapter 7 Filings:
Rainbow Manufacturing, Inc.
dba Rainbow Graphics		3/26/25No Data25-04650Mundelein, IL9thNorthern IL
Chicago		Michael B. SladeMichael A. BrandessDirect mail printing & mailing
Mudd Print & Promo, LLC3/21/25No Data25-10761Oklahoma City, OK10thWestern OK
Oklahoma City		Sarah A. HallO. Clifton GoodingPrint & promo distributor
Cortland Standard Printing Company3/20/25No Data25-30194Cortland, NYNeNorthern NY
Syracuse		Wendy A. KinsellaMaxsen D. ChampionCommunity newspaper
Creative Prints LLC dba Forn6 Ballstiks3/6/25No Data25-10574Orange, CA9thCentral CA
Santa Ana		Scott C. ClarksonChristopher P. WalkerScreen printing apparel
Israel Insolvency Filings:
Highcon Systems Ltd.3/27/25$18.2---Yavne, Israel------------Digital diecutting equipment

 
2025 March - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Xplor International3/31/25No DataLutz, FLNoneN/A3/26/25E-docs trade associationLink
Federal DirectApr-25No DataTorrington, CTNoneN/AMar-25Direct mail printing & mailingLink
Cortland StandardMar-25No DataCortland, NYCortland Standard PrintingCortland, NY3/13/25Community newspaperLink
OneTouchPoint - Printing plant3/28/25No DataAustin, TXOneTouchPoint
(Port. co ICV Partners)		Cincinnati3/4/25Commercial printingLink
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The Prize Patrol Goes Digital – April 2025 M&A Activity

May 6, 2025, 7:23 pm
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Direct mail has proven to be a resilient channel for the delivery of both marketing and transactional content. The maturation of digital inkjet printing technologies has measurably increased the effectiveness of personalized mail communications. However, the direct mail industry faces challenges posed by postal rate increases, paper supply constraints, and the iterative impacts of reduced mail volume, all piled on top of the relentless trend of content transitioning to electronic media. As we have noted over the past several years in The Target Report, we believe that the downward trend in certain print segments is inexorable: content that can move online will move online.

PCH Exits Direct Mail

The world of wishful thinking is not immune to these trends. On April 9th, Publishers Clearing House filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which has fallen from the pinnacle of the direct mail industry, announced that in addition to a balance sheet restructuring, it would exit its legacy direct mail as well as its online retail shopping and subscription solicitation businesses. Despite all this, the company nonetheless promised to continue its sweepstake contests and surprise winners with its oversize checks.

In conjunction with its bankruptcy filing, the company obtained debtor-in-possession financing to fund its now much reduced day-to-day operations, as well as enable it to pay out those prizes. At least for now, the famous PCH Prize Patrol will still knock on doors and deliver an oversize check, and as always, the check will be accompanied by a bottle of champagne and a bouquet of colorful balloons.

In its press release covering the bankruptcy filing, there was no ambiguity about the company’s decision to exit the print and mail mediums; it is “utilizing the financial restructuring process to finalize the shift away from its legacy direct mail and magazine subscription” businesses. The CEO of the company noted that the bankruptcy filing “marks a crucial development in our transition to a digital advertising-supported entertainment company. By taking this step, we are breaking free from the past financial constraints of our legacy direct mail, online retail merchandise, and magazine subscription operating model.” No ambiguity there; print is out.

If PCH, as the company is more commonly called, is no longer in the magazine subscription business, then what is left? An online exploration into the PCH world reveals that the company owns several website channels that entice online visitors to play games, use its proprietary search engine, answer quiz questions, and of course, enter sweepstakes (the allure of winning the big one is still the draw in all PCH offerings). The sites bombard the visitor with personalized advertising, the source of the company’s revenue.

The company leverages its sweepstakes model to collect first-party user data. It claims to have over 170 million opt-in users (clearly, if this number is accurate, it is evidence that hope springs eternal). That treasure trove of data is the company’s best hope for survival as it enables PCH to target advertisers’ campaigns for their brands via the PCH media channels. The future PCH business model appears to mirror the data-driven advertising business that RRD acquired last year when it purchased the Vericast Digital Marketing & Technology business. (See The Target Report: Half a Loaf is Better than None – March 2024.) The difference for PCH is that sweepstakes are always the draw to collect user information.

At one point in its history, PCH was reportedly the highest volume mailer in the United States, second only to the IRS during tax season. During the heyday of its mail-order and online retail merchandise business, prior to Amazon’s and Walmart’s domination of online retail, PCH was generating revenue of approximately one billion dollars per year. Now in bankruptcy, the company has reported that the direct mail print and online merchandize operations are closed. Revenues going forward are projected to be only $38 million in 2025. The employee count is down to just 105 after the bankruptcy filing, with over three hundred employees laid off in 2024. Magazine subscription revenue is now zero. There will be no more oversize manilla colored envelopes dropping into the postal stream proclaiming “Final Step Required,” “Winning Number Found,” and “Guaranteed Winner” in loud red type.

PCH was started in 1953 when Long Island, New York, husband and wife team Harold and LuEsther Mertz mailed out 10,000 envelopes soliciting magazine subscriptions. At the time, magazine subscriptions had mostly been sold by door-to-door salesmen. When one hundred orders were received from that first mailing, Harold and LuEsther, along with their daughter Joyce, were convinced they were onto something. Over the next decade, they successfully grew the company and began their lifelong dedication to charitable causes.

In 1967, PCH ran its first sweepstakes contest, copying a technique pioneered by Reader’s Digest which began the subscription sweepstakes craze with its program in 1962. That initial contest featured the then-stunning grand prize worth $100,000. In 1989, two members of the PCH advertising team dreamed up the Prize Patrol, a happy clean-cut team that shows up unannounced on front doorsteps to surprise sweepstake winners at home. The result was often great TV advertising spots for PCH, candid-camera events that kept millions of aspiring winners’ hopes alive that they too could win.

Critically, it was never a requirement in the PCH sweepstakes that entrants actually buy anything, as that would have made the sweepstakes illegal. However, many recipients either missed that disclaimer, or they believed that their chances of winning were enhanced if they went ahead, subscribed to a publication, or in later years, purchased something that was advertised alongside the sweepstakes promotion. For PCH, and others, the formula worked, and the ongoing sweepstakes kept the magazine subscriptions flowing. According to the New York Times, by 1998 PCH and its copy-cat competitor, AFP, were mailing out in excess of four hundred million pieces of mail annually. The oversized, sticker-laden, exclamation-point-and-arrow-decorated sweepstake solicitations were responsible for nearly one-third of all new magazine subscriptions. More subscriptions drove increased circulation, which in turn supported higher advertising rates. Everybody was happy with the direct mail-sweepstakes-subscription-circulation-advertising business ecosystem.

That is not entirely true, not everybody was happy. The advertising practices of PCH (and its competitors) have been challenged in lawsuits. The company has at one time or another been sued by all fifty state Attorneys General and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and investigated by Congress. Over the years, there have been settlements with payouts in the tens of millions of dollars. Most recently, in a settlement that emerged during the bankruptcy proceeding, the FTC is sending a payout of $18.5 million to 281,724 consumers. The claim was that PCH was guilty of deceptive advertising that was purposely aimed at older and lower income audiences. The ongoing settlements, coupled with the dramatic decline in its magazine subscription business and competition from more sophisticated and well-heeled online sellers, led to the April bankruptcy filing and final withdrawal from the direct mail market.

Direct Mail Lives On

Quad, which now bills itself as a “marketing experience company” as opposed to a printing company, has acquired Enru, a third-party co-mailing and logistics service provider. Buried somewhere inside Enru are the remnants of former acquisitions completed under the LSC Communications banner: the Clark Group, Fairrington Logistics, and the former RR Donnelley Logistics & Co-mail Services division.

Enru’s slogan is “tech-enabled logistics” highlighting its use of technology solutions to optimize mailing and freight operations. But make no mistake about it, Enru is all about moving stuff, not digital content, efficiently from one place to another. In other words, Quad is acquiring Enru to get its customers’ printed products to the right place at the right time while maximizing postal and freight discounts. Those printed products include books, catalogs, magazines, and direct mail.

In another notable transaction in April, Arna Marketing Group acquired selected assets of Federal Direct*, a direct mail printing and mailing services company headquartered in Little Falls, New Jersey, and with a former offset and digital print production facility in Torrington, Connecticut. Arna has assumed the manufacturing and servicing of Federal Direct’s business in its Branchburg, New Jersey facility. With an installed fleet of digital web and sheetfed digital inkjet printers, and supporting workflow technology, the Arna facility is well-positioned to produce print in a secure environment well into the future of direct mail.

* Graphic Arts Advisors, publisher of The Target Report, served as exclusive advisor to Federal Direct in this transaction.
   
2025 April - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Image Options$43.0Foothill Ranch, CASPMD$17.0Los Angeles, CA4/29/25No DataAcquisitionEnvironmental graphicsLink
MeyersNo DataMinneapolis, MNMankato PackagingNo DataNorth Mankato, MN4/29/25No DataAcquisitionFolding cartonsLink
Boone NewsmediaNo DataTuscaloosa, ALThe Argus PressNo DataOwosso, MI4/25/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
Atlas HoldingsNo DataGreenwich, CTDe La Rue$388.5Basingstoke, UK4/15/25$347.1AcquisitionCurrency printingLink
Minuteman Press, WinnipegNo DataWinnipeg, MBRap PrintersNo DataWinnipeg, MB4/14/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
PALM$2,070Aalen, GermanyPackaging plants (5 facilities)
Div. International Paper		$19,000Memphis, TN4/14/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
Tower ProductsNo DataEaston, PANova Pressroom ProductsNo DataJacksonville, FL4/14/25No DataMergerPressroom chemicalsLink
Ennis$394.6Midlothian, TX Northeastern EnvelopeNo DataOld Forge, PA4/11/25No DataAcquisitionEnvelope manufacturingLink
North State MediaNo DataRaleigh, NCStanly News & Press
(Prop. Carpenter Media Group)		No DataAlbemarle, NC4/11/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
Texas Heritage Imaging & PrintingNo DataArlington, TXMetro SignsNo DataArlington, TX4/11/25No DataAcquisition
(Generational Group)		Wide-format printingLink
Loftware
(Port co. Riverside Partners)		No DataPortsmouth, NHBL.INKNo DataAustin, TX4/10/25No DataAcquisitionDigital link systemsLink
Quad$2,650Sussex, WIEnru
(Div. LSC Communications)		No DataBolingbrook, IL4/9/25No DataAcquisitionMail processing & logisticsLink
Arna Marketing GroupNo DataBranchburg, NJFederal Direct
(Advised by Graphic Arts Advisors)		$16.1Little Falls, NJ4/4/25No DataAsset Acquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Direct mail printingLink
Inovar Packaging Group
(Port co. Kelso & Company)		No DataDallas, TXModTekNo DataPennsauken, NJ4/3/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Ahlstrom$3,200Helsinki, FinlandStevens Point Mill
(Div. Pixelle Specialty Solutions)		No DataStevens Point, WI4/3/25No DataAcquisitionSpecialty paper millLink
Durst GroupNo DataBrixen, ItalyCallas SoftwareNo DataBerlin, Germany4/2/25No DataAcquisitionDigital prepress softwareLink


2025 April - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Inked Playmats Corp.4/14/25No Data25-14046Boca Raton, FL11thSouthern FL
West Palm Beach		Mindy A. MoraPhilip J. LandauPrinted consumer products
Publishers Clearing House4/9/25$181.925-10694Hicksville, NY2ndSouthern NY
New York		Martin GlennLauren Catherine KissDirect mail solicitations
Vastav Inc
dba Alphagraphics #376		4/2/25No Data25-41211Carrollton, TX5thNorthern Texas
Fort Worth		Mark X. MullinRobert T. DeMarcoPrinting & copying
Chapter 7 Filings:
No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------


2025 April - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Haney4/24/25No DataCincinnati, OHNoneN/AApr-25Labels & flexible packagingLink
Security Bindery Workers Jun-25No DataEden Prairie, MNNoneN/AApr-25Trade binderyLink
Quad - Printing plant5/16/25No DataGreenville, MIQuadSussex, WIApr-25Retail insert printing plant
(Formerly Vertis facility)		Link
Pixelle - MillDec-25No DataChillicothe, OHPixelle Specialty Solutions
(Port co. H.I.G. Capital)		Spring Grove, PA4/15/25Specialty papers millLink
Graphic Packaging - Paperboard plant6/1/25No DataMiddletown, OHGraphic PackagingAtlanta, GA4/3/25Consolidation into Texas & Michigan plantsLink
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Is M&A Activity in Commercial Print Poised for a Comeback? – May 2025 M&A Activity

June 7, 2025, 9:44 am
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The pace of merger and acquisition activity in the commercial printing segment picked up in May 2025, prompting a timely question: Is the commercial print deal market poised for an accelerated pace as we head into the second half of 2025?

When the first Target Report Annual Review was published in 2019, there were 40 transactions in which the target company was primarily characterized as a commercial printing company. That number fell dramatically to just 27 in 2020 and remained relatively stable at 29 and 26 commercial-print transactions in 2021 and 2022, respectively. As the highly disruptive post-COVID period began to fade in late 2022, M&A transactions in the commercial print sector picked up, reaching 33 in 2023 and 34 in 2024. The recent uptick may very well be the harbinger of a new wave of consolidation in the commercial printing business, as stronger companies rationalize markets with overcapacity.

Commercial Print Deal Volume Notches Upward


Among the most noteworthy transactions in the past year, Drummond, based in Jacksonville, Florida, and one of the more prominent practitioners of the regional roll-up strategy, executed a double-header in the Atlanta metro market. The company announced the acquisition of Tucker Castleberry Printing, a long-established commercial printer in Atlanta proper, and New London Communications, located just north in Alpharetta, Georgia. This move reinforces Drummond’s sustained growth strategy across the Southeastern US and adds to its presence in its key secondary metro market. (See The Target Report: Commercial Printing: Consolidation or Regional Expansion? – November 2019.)

While Drummond has not publicly disclosed any tuck-in or integration plans, the proximity and overlapping capabilities of these two companies suggest consolidation could be on the horizon. Either way, the deal signals confidence in the commercial print market, at least for those with scale, specialization, or regional dominance. It is also indicative of sellers deciding that the time has come to bow to the pressure to consolidate.

Drummond’s twin acquisition was not an isolated event. In total, five transactions in the general commercial printing segment were recorded in May, the highest monthly count in recent years. A review of the trailing twelve-month deal activity shows that while growth in the number of deals has been modest, it is on an upward trend, suggesting renewed confidence in the segment. At the very least, there is a resurgence of interest from owners willing to sell, and there are buyers willing and able to step up and acquire commercial printing companies.

Packaging as a Growth Avenue: Folding Carton Focus

Another trend with traction in commercial printing is the strategic move into folding carton production. While packaging is a distinct market with different customer expectations, regulatory requirements, and production workflows, it shares several core competencies with commercial printing. This is especially true when it comes to offset press operations that either have or upgrade to presses capable of handling thicker paperboard substrates.

This trend is not theoretical. Oliver Printing, formerly headquartered in the Cleveland area, offers one of the best case studies in this transformation from commercial printing to folding carton manufacturing. The company successfully reinvented itself over the past decade, transitioning from its five-generation history as a commercial printer to its current position as primarily a folding carton producer. This strategy led to successive private equity acquisitions and its evolution into a multi-location packaging operation. (See The Target Report: The Box is Back – January 2023.)

In the past year, Digital Color Concepts, based in Mountainside, New Jersey, with financial backing by private equity fund Sherburne Partners, acquired Tiger Press in Massachusetts. Tiger Press, formerly purely a commercial printing company, had entered the folding carton business in recent years. Another recent transaction that follows this pattern was RoyerComm’s merger with Prism Color in Pennsauken, New Jersey. In both cases, folding carton capabilities were cited explicitly as a key driver in the acquisition rationale.

These examples illustrate how forward-thinking commercial printers are not merely responding to the decline in traditional print volumes. Some are actively repositioning themselves toward growth segments, developing expertise in folding cartons, and in the process, enhancing their appeal as acquisition candidates. Others are using M&A to acquire those companies, to efficiently and effectively bring folding carton capabilities into their product mix.

Unique Product Specialization

Another notable transaction highlighted in the above chart, due to the target company having a significant secondary product, is Mittera’s acquisition of Rex3, a Florida-based commercial printer also known for its niche specialty: printing trading cards. With collectibles experiencing a post-pandemic revival, driven by gaming culture and online marketplaces, trading cards have emerged as a bright spot in the specialty print sector. Mittera cited Rex3’s capabilities in this high-value category as an important factor in its decision to complete the acquisition. The acquisition underscores a consistent theme in today’s market: differentiation and specialization are key drivers of value in commercial print mergers and acquisitions.

The Franchise-Driven Print & Copy Segment

This upward trend in transaction volume deserves closer inspection. Not all commercial print deals are created equal. When we filter out a separate subset of transactions, those classified as being in the print & copy segment, i.e., those typically involving small storefront operations, a more nuanced picture emerges. The deals involving these smaller companies represent 12 of the 30 transactions we identified as being in the commercial segment.

These print & copy companies are smaller shops, often located in retail corridors or downtown shopping districts, and usually maintain a street-level presence designed to attract local walk-in business. A notable share of these transactions involves franchise conversions, often facilitated with the support or involvement of the master franchisor. In two of the past twelve months, June ’24 and April ’25, the only commercial printing companies that traded were those with franchise operations as buyers.

In some cases, the buyer is a first-time entrant into the printing business, seeking the training, brand recognition, and operating systems of an established franchise network. In other cases, the buyer is an existing franchisee looking to expand within their designated territory. These franchise buyers may fold the acquired location into an existing franchise location, or alternatively, retain the operation in the acquired location, thereby increasing the number of storefronts under their control.

Beneath the Surface: Stability or Stagnation?

At face value, these numbers, while increasing, still suggest relative calm in the general commercial market. However, conversations with owners tell a more cautious tale. We are seeing an increase in exploratory outreach from commercial printing company owners who are neither thriving nor in financial distress. Many are simply treading water, breaking even, and have begun to consider succession plans, or are actively looking for a way to exit the business gracefully.

In many cases, these companies were already under pressure before the pandemic and were kept afloat thanks to government stimulus programs. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Employee Retention Credit (ERC) injected life-saving liquidity into otherwise marginal operations. However, for many, the money has now been spent, with some of it covering losses and some used for equipment refurbishment. Without substantive structural change, the pre-pandemic financial pressures have re-emerged.

The steady secular decline in general commercial printing, marked by shrinking demand, rising input costs, and the persistent pricing pressure, has resumed its long-term trajectory. The brief surge in demand that followed the pandemic is fading, and competitive pressure has returned to the market. Print buyers are once again exerting downward pricing pressure. The optimism of 2022–2023 is giving way to a more sober view of the road ahead. For many, 2019 was the benchmark year considered to be the normal economic condition that would return as the impact of the pandemic receded into history. Instead, demand has swung wildly in response to the lockdown and its aftermath, supply constraints supported price increases, excessive inventory was laid on and subsequently had to be worked off. And now, in 2025, owners face the oscillating threat of extreme tariffs. Company owners appear to be adjusting to the reality that constant change is the new normal, and there may not be a better time to plan an exit.

Looking Forward: A Steady Stream of M&A to Come?

Although it may be too soon to draw firm conclusions, the current trend in M&A transactions within the commercial printing segment appears to be upward. When viewed alongside an increase in confidential owner inquiries, the data suggests that further consolidation is on deck for the commercial printing segment. While May’s activity may not represent a breakout moment, it may very well be a bellwether.
 
2025 May - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Crisp ImagingNo DataCosta Mesa, CAAAA Blueprint & Digital ReprographicsNo DataOrange, CA5/27/25No DataAcquisitionReprographics & wide formatLink
Drummond$65.9Jacksonville, FLNew London Communications$7.9Alpharetta, GA5/22/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Drummond$65.9Jacksonville, FLTucker Castleberry PrintingNo DataAtlanta, GA5/22/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Ad PopulumNo DataSanta Monica, CADiamond Comic DistributorsNo DataHunt Valley, MD5/20/25No Data363 Sale in Ch. 11Comic book distributionLink
Fort Orange PressNo DataAlbany, NYAlchar PrintingNo DataTroy, NY5/19/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Smart Source$250.0Suwanee, GACTP SolutionsNo DataAgoura Hills. CA5/14/25No DataAcquisitionPrint ManagementLink
Minuteman Press, WilliamsvilleNo DataWilliamsville, NYMinute PrintNo DataCheektowaga, NY5/13/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Provident Group
(Sub. of Anderson & Vreeland)		No DataAppleton, WIPrecision Flexo & GravureNo DataEnglewood, CO5/13/25No DataAcquisitionGravure & flexo press suppliesLink
Ironmark
(Port co. Post Capital Partners)		$51.4Annapolis Junction, MDVista One MarketingNo DataGadsden, AL5/9/25No DataAcquisitionDigital marketing servicesLink
GroupeStahlNo DataSaint Clair Shores, MITKO SalesNo DataPompano Beach, FL5/8/25No DataAcquisitionHeat transfer printingLink
Sample News GroupNo DataState College, PACortland Standard PrintingNo DataCortland, NY5/8/25No DataCh. 7 Asset SaleCommunity newspaperLink
Arkansas GraphicsNo DataLittle Rock, ARTCP Print SolutionsNo DataLittle Rock, AR5/6/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Welch Packaging GroupNo DataElkhart, INJaMar PackagingNo DataWest Chicago, IL5/5/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
Schumacher FamilyNo DataAndalusia, ALAndalusia Star-News (+ 3 Titles)
(Prop Boone Newsmedia)		No DataAndalusia, AL5/1/25No DataAcquisition
(Cribb & Associates)		Community newspaperLink
SupplyOne
(Port co. Wellspring Capital)		No DataNewtown Square,
PA		The BoxMakerNo DataKent, WA5/1/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxes & displaysLink

   
2025 May - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Envelope Mart of Northeast Ohio, Inc.5/18/25No Data25-12125Elyria OH6thNorthern OH
Cleveland		Suzana Krstevski KochMichael A. SteelEnvelope printing & manufacturing
Elite Printing & Packaging Inc.5/5/25No Data25-41743Hazelwood, MO8thEastern MO
St. Louis		Bonnie L. ClairSpencer P. DesaiPrint management & fulfillment
Chapter 7 Filings:
No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------

   
2025 May - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Edition One BooksAug-25No DataRichmond, CANoneN/AMay-25Digital book manufacturing facilityLink
Interstate Printing6/4/25No DataOmaha, NENoneN/AMay-25Commercial printingLink
Willamette Print & BlueprintApr-25No DataPortland, ORNoneN/AMay-25Reprographics & wide-format printingLink
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Challenges and Opportunities: Hardware versus Software – June 2025 M&A Activity

July 6, 2025, 7:44 pm
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Recent deal activity and distress filings draw a clear line of demarcation through institutional investors’ view of the current printing and packaging landscape. The market continues to reward software-driven, workflow-focused businesses, while hardware-centric ventures face the constraints of tighter capital equipment budgets, long-term planning timeframes, scale needed to manufacture high-tech equipment, and service staff requirements that challenge even the most innovative companies.

Software and Workflow: Sticky, Scalable, Recurring, and Attractive

Private equity and strategic buyers remain hungry for platforms that keep print profitable and operate behind the scenes. Vista Equity Partners’ acquisition of Amtech Software, a packaging industry MIS provider, underscores the appeal: mission-critical, recurring-revenue software that sticks with converters for years, often decades. While the Amtech name may not be well-known to many readers of The Target Report, for those in the label printing and converting business, the company’s Label Traxx software system is likely familiar. Amtech is the developer of the EnCore ERP system for corrugated and folding carton manufacturing, as well as the Axiom software program for sheeting operations.

Amtech is a classic example of the most common PE-backed strategy: acquiring a privately held family business, adding related “bolt-on” businesses that enhance depth within a specific market to build value, and then exiting through a sale to another PE firm that will continue the growth. Amtech, based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1981 and remained a family-owned company until August 2021, when it was acquired by its first institutional investor, Peak Rock Capital. Changes to the Amtech platform completed under Peak Rock’s ownership include the acquisition of Label Traxx in April 2024, the expansion of the company into new geographic markets, and, critically, converting the company’s offerings to a recurring subscription model. What could be better? Recurring revenue from an industry, packaging, that is itself attractive to financial investors due to its recurring nature.

Print Eps (né eProductivity Software) snapped up Avanti Systems from Ricoh. It’s another sign that the Management Information System (MIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) layers of the industry continue to consolidate under technology specialists who know how to drive margins by building scale via the acquisition of competitive systems, cross-selling into preferred platforms, and cementing recurring revenue relationships with customers.

Avanti, an early adopter of full cloud-based deployment, was acquired by Ricoh in 2017. It was another one of those head-scratching strategies in which print equipment manufacturers jump into the MIS/ERP software world, reminiscent of EFI’s acquisition of and long-term effort to integrate the Printcafe collection of legacy print-MIS system companies. Eventually, EFI decided to focus on its Vutek, Reggiani, Cretaprint, and Nozomi equipment lines, and in 2022, spun out its MIS software division in a sale to PE firm Symphony Technology Group

Ricoh, like EFI, eventually realized that its goal to integrate business management software with its machine-based workflow was misguided. In the sometimes circular world of M&A transactions, Avanti ends up back in the fold with the former EFI-owned suite of print MIS software offerings.

Disruptive Hardware-Centric Ventures: Capital Hungry and Vulnerable

In stark contrast, innovative hardware-centric ventures are currently showing deep cracks.

Landa Digital Printing, the high-profile Israeli-based press innovator, filed for insolvency with reported debts of $516 million and assets of only $127 million (excluding the potential value of its intellectual property). Founded by Benny Landa, the visionary inventor and entrepreneur behind the development and launch of the revolutionary Indigo line of digital printing machines, the company spent over a decade developing its “nanographic” technology. Despite splashy launches and global demos, the expensive path from prototype to profitable installed base proved too long.

In 2021, with markets and print demand seemingly ready to rebound after the Covid lockdown, Landa Digital Printing was planning to merge with a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company, aka a “shell company”). At the time, press reports indicated that Landa was expecting the company to achieve a $2 billion valuation based on the money to be raised by the SPAC after the merger. As it turned out, that deal never materialized, and private investors continued to pour money into the company. Collectively, the private investors and secured creditors ponied up in excess of $1.3 billion, including more than $220 million from founder and master pitchman Benny Landa.

At its peak, Landa Digital Printing employed about 500 people, mainly in Israel. That number has declined with more layoffs to occur as part of the company’s restructuring efforts. The company has sustained losses every year since its founding in 2011. The company reported a loss of $148 million on sales of $35 million, and a loss of $164 million on sales of $59 million, in the years 2022 and 2023, respectively, the first years that machines were commercially available (alpha and beta test models have been out since 2017). Although results for 2024 have not been published, it appears that many of the 50 orders reportedly placed at Drupa 2024 have not materialized or have been substantially delayed, with only 11 of those orders reportedly fulfilled.

Nonetheless, Benny Landa is not someone to count out easily. He went through a very similar process with the introduction of Indigo printing technology and machines. The Indigo venture was quite dicey for several years, with layoffs and many, many complaints about the reliability of the machines. In 2002, HP made a strong commitment to the digital color printing business and acquired Indigo for $830 million. The sale to HP was not the home run that Landa wanted, with the amount paid by HP roughly equal to Indigo’s 1994 valuation when the company went public. However, given the state of the company at the time, it was considered a brilliant exit for Benny Landa and the investors. With HP’s support, world-class organization, and commitment to addressing quality issues, the Indigo line of presses went on to set the standard for high-fidelity digital-color production machines.

Landa’s fall into insolvency comes on the heels of another blow to the Israeli digital printing universe. Digital equipment maker Highcon Systems Ltd., in which Benny Landa has also invested, known for its game-changing digital die-cutting and creasing machines, filed for insolvency earlier this year. When Highcon was initially floated on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, it had a total market value of approximately $110 million. At the time of the insolvency filing in March, the market value had dropped to approximately $1.1 million, with only 20 employees remaining to maintain minimal operations. As of the date of this writing, the remnants of the company are still for sale under the supervision of the Israeli Insolvency Courts.

Both the Landa and Highcon collapses show just how unforgiving the economics of capital-intensive equipment can be when market adoption lags behind investors’ expectations. Innovative equipment manufacturers must fund costly installations, spare parts inventory, installation and service teams, and global demos for years before sales volumes reach sustainability. The time delay is simply a runway that is too long, and in the case of Landa and Highcon, exceeded the patience of their investors.

Geopolitical Events Add Pressure to Israel’s Print Equipment Innovators

The back-to-back failures of Landa and Highcon also reveal how the current geopolitical disruption is magnifying risk for hardware OEMs. Israel’s ongoing conflict since October 2023 hit its digital print cluster particularly hard. According to reports in the Israeli financial press, more than 25% of the Landa company’s local workforce, including key engineering and field service staff, has been called up for extended reserve duty since the war began, resulting in delays to R&D and on-site installations. Landa also cited maritime shipping delays due to Houthi attacks that created difficulties using the Suez Canal as a major challenge. Additionally, wartime security restrictions slowed the import of precision parts and shipments of equipment. Travel advisories complicated demos and pushed orders into longer cycles.

In part, due to global economic and political uncertainty, but of special concern related to Israeli companies, deliverable orders dried up. This, in turn, led Landa’s investors to cease funding the company, and subsequently resulted in the filing for Chapter 10 insolvency and protection in the Israeli courts. While the war did not cause the underlying problems, it amplified them. The current external shocks helped push these leading-edge hardware-centric companies, which were already stretched thin, over the financial cliff.

In March, when Highcon announced that it was winding down operations, it cited uncertainty surrounding US policies on tariffs and related fluctuating trade policies. While Highcon had been struggling for quite some time to retain a full staff, as was reported in the press more than a year prior to the initiation of the trade war, the company believed that the threat of tariffs created a fear of making larger capital equipment investments among many companies around the globe.

Steady Cash Flow Versus Game-Changing Technology

A pattern emerges from recent transactions involving companies that support and equip print and packaging providers. Software and workflow platforms remain prime targets for smart money; they are customer-sticky, margin-friendly, and don’t carry the financial drag of inventory or parts logistics. Hardware-centric ventures face a significantly tougher road, requiring substantial capital investments upfront, a strong installed base, and patient investors willing to bridge the long gap from prototype to profit.

While the deals involving software do not generate exciting headlines like the launch of entirely new digital printing or finishing machines that utilize lasers, they illustrate a simple truth: there is opportunity in software platforms that operate behind the scenes, automating, integrating, and keeping the machines busy.

Clearly, it is a symbiotic relationship between new printing technology and software that supports running the businesses that use the new technology. Equipment manufacturers continually push the technical boundaries to develop faster and more advanced print technologies. These are not always initially financially successful. However, when the technology matures and the machines are installed, you can be certain that financial players will be ready to support the software companies that make those technologies more efficient.
   
2025 June - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Plockmatic Group
Pot co. Accent Equity		No dataStockholm,
Sweden		RenzNo DataHeubach,
Germany		6/27/25No DataAcquisitionWire binding equipmentLink
TC Transcontinental$2,005Montreal, QCMiddleton GroupNo DataMarkham, ON6/23/25No DataAcquisitionWide format & retail displayLink
InlandNo dataLa Crosse, WIGopakNo DataDelafield, WI6/18/25No DataInvestmentFlexible packagingLink
Vista Equity PartnersNo dataAustin, TXAmtech Software
(Port co. Peak Rock Capital)		No DataFort Washington,
PA		6/16/25No DataAcquisitionPackaging MIS systemsLink
PAC GlobalNo DataMarkham, ONDigital Imaging AssociationNo DataToronto, ON6/11/25No DataAcquisitionTrade associationLink
Leader Paper ProductsNo dataMilwaukee, WIUnique EnvelopeNo DataChicago, IL6/4/25No DataAcquisitionEnvelope manufacturingLink
CCL Industries$5,135Toronto, ONHumphreys Holdings Limited
dba We Print Lanyards		$2.8Long Eaton, UK6/2/25$3.9AcquisitionSpecialty printed productsLink
Seneca Label and PackagingNo DataFranklin, PASeneca Printing ExpressNo DataFranklin, PA6/2/25No DataAcquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Specialty label printingLink
Print ePS
(Div. eProductivity Software)		No DataPittsburgh, PAAvanti Systems
(Div. Ricoh Company, Ltd.)		No DataToronto, ON6/2/25No DataAcquisitionMIS system for printingLink


2025 June - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Professional Mail Services, Inc.6/23/25No Data25-02371Raleigh, NC4thEastern NC
Raleigh		Pamela W. McAfeeDanny BradfordDirect mail printing
Chapter 7 Filings:
No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
Canada Insolvency Filings:
Trico Packaging & Print Solutions6/4/25No Data---Ottawa, ON------------Commercial printing
Israel Insolvency Filings:
Landa Corporation Ltd.
dba Landa Digital Printing		6/29/25$18.2---Rehovot, Israel------------Digital printing equipment

 
2025 June- Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Desert Diecutting7/17/25No DataLas Vegas, NVNoneN/AJun-25Bindery & finishing servicesLink


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↧

Surprising Dynamism in Market for Local Newspapers – July 2025 M&A Activity

August 7, 2025, 10:35 am
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The restructuring of the local news industry continues at a steady pace, driven by the dual forces of financial pressure on small publishers and the strategic ambitions of regional consolidators. Family-owned papers with deep community roots are increasingly turning to better-capitalized buyers in search of long-term sustainability. Meanwhile, new ownership models, from nonprofits to local investor groups, are reshaping the competitive landscape.

In past issues of The Target Report, we have covered transactions and trends in the newspaper publishing business, once a dominant segment of the broader printing industry. Indeed, many of today’s legacy commercial printing firms trace their origins back to local newspapers that added commercial work to better utilize excess press capacity.

The turmoil and ongoing decline in the newspaper industry have had a profound impact on web offset printers and significantly altered the paper grades produced by mills. To take a deeper look into the current dynamics shaping local newspaper ownership, I have invited Sara April, President of Dirks, Van Essen & April, the leading M&A advisory firm in the U.S. newspaper sector, to offer her insights into recent transactions, strategic drivers, and the evolving landscape of local journalism.

–  Mark

Local News: Market in Motion

By Sara April, Guest Author

The local media landscape continues to undergo fundamental reshaping, driven by a confluence of market pressures, strategic consolidations, and evolving ownership models. This is reflected in 2025’s steady merger and acquisition activity.

Smaller publishers are increasingly challenged by rising costs and limited scale, prompting sales to larger, better-capitalized buyers who can deliver operational efficiencies and regional synergies. At the same time, portfolio realignment and targeted clustering strategies are prompting both acquisitions and divestitures by some of the industry's most active players.

The result is a dynamic, fragmented market marked by a diverse and constantly evolving set of buyers, including regional groups, nonprofit entities, and local investors. The following explores key trends, notable transactions, and the strategic drivers behind recent M&A activity. We have tracked the sale of 97 local news titles in 38 transactions so far in 2025, which represents a similar pace compared to the prior year.

Activity Drivers: Lack of Scale

Smaller operators are facing increasing difficulties due to a lack of scale needed to manage expenses. This is driving them to sell, often with a larger company coming in as successful buyers. As these larger regional newspaper groups acquire smaller independent newspapers, they can create economies of scale and build stronger, more sustainable networks.

Enterprise Media Group, based in Blair, Nebraska, was one such seller. The sixth-generation family-owned company included 10 weekly newspapers and three total market coverage shoppers serving a regional market north of Omaha spanning eastern Iowa and western Nebraska. It was sold to Carpenter Media Group, one of the most prolific newspaper buyers in the past 18 months.

Carpenter Media Group burst onto the acquisition scene in March 2024 with its acquisition of Black Press Media, which included more than 150 newspapers and media operations across Western Canada, Washington and Hawaii. The company has gone on to complete more than 10 deals since then, including Enterprise Media Group, as well as EO Media Group in the pacific northwest, M. Roberts Media in Texas, Salem Publishing Company in Missouri, and Oregon-based Pamplin Media Group. The company now has operations in 19 states (as well as in Canada), providing great economies of scale.

Other smaller operators to have sold include the Campbell family in Owosso, Michigan. Published continuously since 1854, The Argus-Press was in its 131st year and fourth generation of Campbell family ownership. It was one of the longest-running independent, family-owned newspapers in Michigan. The family ultimately sold to Boone Newsmedia to take over stewardship of the company.*

Boone Newsmedia, based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, owns and/or manages more than 60 newspapers, magazines, and digital properties across seven states, including Michigan. The company is known for its commitment to quality journalism, community engagement, and sustainable media operations.

Activity Drivers: Clustering Continues

Following in the same vein as creating economies of scale, owners of local media clusters continue to build larger regional footprints, allowing them to leverage management over more revenue and find value through consolidation of back-office functions. This trend, defined generally as buying a property within a two-county radius of an existing operation, has been driving activity for years.

MediaNews Group’s acquisition of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat expanded its California footprint in one such play. This deal expanded MNG’s presence in the Bay Area, where it already owned the San Jose Mercury News and the East Bay Times. The deal included The Press Democrat, the Sonoma Index-Tribune, the Petaluma Argus-Courier, the North Bay Business Journal, Sonoma magazine, the Sonoma County Gazette, and La Prensa Sonoma.

This was not MNG’s first foray into clustering by a longshot. Other deals employing this strategy include its acquisitions of The San Diego Union-Tribune, Times-Shamrock Communications in Pennsylvania, Redwing Publishing in Minnesota, and the Reading Eagle in Pennsylvania.

O’Rourke Media Group’s July acquisition of Metro Philadelphia and Philly Sports Network likewise capitalized on existing operations a company had in a region. OMG already published 11 local newspapers with local websites in the Philly suburbs, Bucks County and Montgomery County. The acquisition creates the largest newspaper presence in the Philadelphia market, with a combined circulation of over 180,000 distributed to mailboxes and high-traffic locations across the region.

Activity Drivers: Portfolio Management

Portfolio management is also driving activity as both small and large companies constantly reassess which assets align with their strategic goals. One such case was The National Trust for Local News divesting the majority of its Colorado titles in June 2025 to Arizona-based Times Media Group.

The 21 Colorado titles sold had been part of the Trust’s first acquisition in 2021, which was heralded as the advent of a new model for community-supported journalism. The Trust followed its 2021 Colorado deal with the creation of the Maine Trust for Local News in 2023, which acquired 22 titles from Masthead Maine, including the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal in Augusta, and Waterville Morning Sentinel. The deal made the National Trust the largest publisher of newspapers in the state. The Trust announced its next deal in January 2024, when its Georgia Trust for Local News acquired 18 titles in rural Georgia. These included the Albany Herald, Dublin’s Courier Herald, Sparta Ishmaelite, and the Johnson Journal.

The National Trust cited financial challenges, including rising operational costs, as a factor in the decision to sell the 21 Colorado titles, which serve suburban Denver. It continues to own seven small papers in the state that serve rural counties, as well as a printing press.

Carpenter Media Group, which we talked about above as the most prolific buyer in recent months, has also strategically divested when it’s made sense. The company found itself on the sell side of things when it divested its non-core operations in Stanly, North Carolina, recently. North State Media acquired CMG’s Stanly News & Press, which has been published in Stanly County under different names since 1880, with Stanly County Journal, the local edition of North State Journal that publishes weekly.

Move Makers: Diverse Group

Prior to 2020, there were many years in which two or three large companies were snapping up most of the newspapers that came on the market. BH Media, Adams Publishing Group, and New Media Investment Group (and GateHouse in its previous iteration) all took turns on that list. This, however, is the fifth year with a remarkably diverse buyer pool. Buyers today include traditional media companies, individual investors, non-profit organizations, and local community groups.

In a sample of 65 transactions that closed in 2022, 48 different buyers were represented. Forty of those buyers completed only a single transaction. This group included several independent, local buyers such as El Rito Media in New Mexico; Amy Duncan and her husband Mark Davitt in Iowa; and Kyle and Jordan Troutman in Missouri.

Jumping ahead to the 38 transactions we’ve tracked so far in 2025, 34 separate buyers are represented. This is unprecedented. The only repeats on the list are Carpenter Media Group; Sample News Group, which made two strategic acquisitions in New York; and Hearst with its headline-grabbing acquisition of the Austin American-Statesman earlier this year and quieter acquisition of the Waterbury Republican-American in Connecticut. It will go for a three-peat when it closes the deal to merge with the Dallas Morning News later this year, which will be the largest transaction of 2025 (following Austin), provided however that Alden Global Capital’s hostile bid for the paper comes to naught.

On the Horizon

Looking ahead, the local news market is poised to remain active, with consolidation, regional clustering, and strategic portfolio realignment continuing to shape ownership. As new players enter and legacy operators adapt, we expect an increasingly diverse mix of buyers to continue driving deal activity.

* Dirks, Van Essen & April, guest contributor, served as advisor to the Campbell family in this transaction.
   
2025 July - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Link
Finger Printing & PublishingNo DataBlack Earth, WIBerlin Jounal Newspapers
(5 Titles)		No DataBerlin, WI7/31/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Ironmark
(Port co. Post Capital Partners)		$51.4Annapolis Junction, MDAmerican Marketing & Mailing ServicesNo DataTampa, FL7/29/25No DataAcquisitionDirect mail & marketingLink
LBSNo DataDes Moines, IAPilgrim PackagingNo DataHuntley, IL7/28/25No DataAcquisitionSpecialty packagingLink
LR GroupNo DataHerzliya Pituah,
Israel		Highcon Systems Ltd.$18.2Yavne, Israel7/27/25$0.76Asset Sale
(Israel District Court)		Digital die cutting equipmentLink
Michigan Independent Media GroupNo DataLansing, MICity PulseNo DataLansing, MI7/26/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
RL Signs & GraphicsNo DataBoardman, OHRL Smith GraphicsNo DataBoardman, OH7/23/25$0.7AcquisitionWide-format printingLink
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen$2,688Heidelberg, GermanyPolar Mohr Intellectual Property
(Port co. SOL Capital Management)		No DataHofheim, Germany7/23/25No DataAcquisitionIntellectual & sales rightsLink
TedPackNo DataDongguan, ChinaPackaging Operations
(Div. Fairview International)		No DataJackson, WI7/21/25No DataAcquisitionFlexible packagingLink
Mittera$542.1Des Moines, IAOTP Denver
(Div. OneTouchPoint )		No DataDenver, CO7/21/25No DataAcquisitionTransactional printingLink
Hammond Paper CompanyNo DataVaughan, ONPaulymarkNo DataRougemont, QC7/15/25No DataAcquisitionPaperboard convertingLink
O'Rourke Media GroupNo DataGilbert, AZMetro Philadelphia (+2 titles)
(Prop. Schneps Media)		No DataNew York, NY7/15/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
Hearst Newspapers
(Div. Hearst Communications)		No DataNorwalk, CTDallasNews Corporation$29.1Dallas, TX7/10/25$74.9AcquisitionMetro newspaperLink
The Vomela Companies
(Port co. The Riverside Company)		$364.0St. Paul, MNPFLNo DataLivingston, MT7/9/25No DataAcquisitionDirect mail printingLink
Double E GroupNo DataBridgewater, MAConverter Accessory Corp.No DataWind Gap, PA7/8/25No DataAcquisitionConverting accessoriesLink
DatacolorNo DataLawrenceville, NJTechkon USANo DataDanvers, MA7/8/25No DataAcquisitionColor management softwareLink
Packaging Corporation of America$8,640Lake Forest, ILGreif Containerboard Business$1,200Delaware, OH7/1/25$1,800AcquisitionContainerboard & box plantsLink
   

2025 July - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
IG Design Group Americas, Inc.7/3/25No Data25-90165Berwick, PA5thSouthern TX
Houston		Christopher M. LopezCaroline A. ReckleGift wrap paper & related items
Chapter 7 Filings:
Spectrum Graphics and Printing, Inc.7/17/25No Data25-43411Brooklyn, NY2ndEastern NY
Brooklyn		Elizabeth S. StongRonald D. WeissPrinting & copying
O-Town Graphix, LLC
dba Elite Signs & Graphics		7/17/25No Data25-04433Deltona, FL11thMiddle FL
Orlando		Grace E. RobsonJ. Craig BourneWide-format printing
Only 1 Printers, Inc.7/3/25No Data25-10222Wheeling, IL7thNorthern IL
Chicago		Deborah L. ThorneMidong Michael ChoiPrinting & copying
 
   
2025 July- Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
OneTouchPoint - Printing facility9/12/25No DataDenver, COOneTouchPoint
(Port Co. ICV Partners)		Hartland, WIJul-25Commercial & transactional printingLink
LSC Communications - Logistics facility
(dba Enru Logistics)		9/5/25No DataBolingbrook, ILLSC CommunicationsWarrenville, ILJul-25Print logisticsLink
New Hampshire Bindery8/7/25No DataBow, NHNoneN/AJul-25Bindery servicesLink
Mono Die Cutting Company9/11/25No DataRiverside, RINoneN/AJul-25Die cutting & stampingLink
Cascades - Corrugated FacilitySep-25No DataNiagara Falls, NYCascadesKingsley Falls, QC7/8/25Corrugated millLink
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The Target Report Annual Review – TTM August 2025 M&A Activity

September 9, 2025, 1:53 pm
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Uncertainty Rules the Day

Over the past fourteen years, we have chronicled, logged, and commented on the merger and acquisition activity in several print-centric business segments, with a special focus on commercial printing, packaging (including labels, folding cartons, & flexible packaging), wide-format, and direct mail companies. At the end of August each year, rather than focusing on the prior month’s deal activity, we take a look back at the past twelve months. If past is prologue, and to a reasonable extent we believe it is, then we hope to provide a high-level macro perspective on what the deal activity tells us about where the industry is headed. Which segments have experienced more or less deal activity? What are the trends in the buyers’ rationale to complete these acquisitions? Are acquirers adding facilities to their networks, or opportunistically folding acquisitions into their existing facilities? What does all this tell us about the potential future transactional activity within each print segment?

In purely numeric M&A terms, deal activity during the past twelve months was essentially the same as in the prior TTM period, with a 1.1% increase. However, this is still 12.4% off the peak number we logged in the 2022 post-Covid boom year. We identified 191 transactions of interest during the past twelve months, close to the lowest number we have tracked in any period since we began publishing our annual reviews in the autumn of 2016.

Last year at this time, it appeared that the economy, and therefore by extension the printing and packaging segments, might navigate the turbulence and nail the elusive soft landing. As it played out, the US economy managed to do so incredibly well, with moderately higher interest rates, in historical terms, slowly dampening the stimulus-induced inflation. As we headed into autumn 2024, we noted some bumps on the landing runway, indicating that not all was well. With autumn approaching, the economic plane has landed, and troubling signs appear in the M&A data from the last twelve months. The economy appears to be grounded, and business owners are not sure which runway will lead to a smooth takeoff.

The data noted below about bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy plant closings indicate that the ride has been increasingly bumpy, at least for some. (We dig into this more deeply below and point out the particularly hard-hit segments.) At Graphic Arts Advisors (GAA), we hear from many owners on a regular basis, and while inferences from these conversations are anecdotal, we hear that there is a softening of demand across many graphic segments. At GAA, in our special situations practice, which assists owners of financially challenged companies, from moderately to highly distressed, inquiries have increased significantly in the past several months.

We are often asked what time of the year the best time is to go to market, and when buyers are likely to close on deals. Historically, deal activity tends to drop off every year as we head into the summer months. This year was no exception. Although deal activity was steady overall on a year-to-date basis, the three-month trailing analysis of the number of deal announcements by month shows that transactions have steadily declined from a peak in January, reaching their low in July and August.

Deal Activity by Segment

The printing industry is not monolithic, and to better understand the market, we have categorized all deals logged by the segment in which the acquired company primarily operates for each of the past fourteen years. We then dig deeper into the packaging, commercial printing, direct mail, and wide-format printing businesses, seeking to understand the rationale behind each deal, and gestalt the results by segment. We also analyze bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy plant closings to determine which segments face the most pronounced business challenges.

The following chart breaks down M&A transactions over the past three years into the segments tracked in The Target Report. (Additional segmentation is presented in the discussion below about M&A in the wide-format and packaging markets.)


Commercial Printing

Our annual deep dive into the rationale behind the transactions in the commercial printing segment indicates that the number of deals in the commercial printing business has been reasonably stable. However, upon closer examination, there are troubling signs in the general commercial printing industry. Companies that rely on a steady stream of new jobs won via the grind of a daily estimate-and-bid process feel the impact of a slowing economy quickly and deeply. The impact of this shows up clearly in the following chart.


The percentage of deals that were structured as tuck-ins spiked back up to 42% of the announced deals in commercial printing, in contrast to 31.3% in 2023 and an all-time low in 2024 of 26.5%. In these tuck-in transactions, the customers of the acquired company are transitioned to the buyer’s production facility. Buyers will often leave the disposition of the plant and equipment to the seller or the seller’s agent, thereby avoiding responsibility for trade and other debts, and possibly cherry-picking specific equipment that is needed or desirable for the smooth continued servicing of the acquired customers. In our opinion, proven out over time, a higher percentage of tuck-ins is indicative of overcapacity and financial stress, with the consequential result that fewer buyers were willing to acquire an operating company within that segment of the industry, or even more likely, the seller was showing an operating loss for a year or more.

Another indication of increased stress in the commercial printing segment was the decline in the percentage and number of deals in which the buyer stated that they were acquiring the target company with the intention of keeping the facility operating, as opposed to a tuck-in transaction. Over the past year, there were eighteen acquisitions in the commercial printing segment where the acquired facility was important to the buyer and will remain in operation, as-is-where-is. Eleven of these buyers acquired the target company to add a location, with the stated goal of keeping the plant operational, which is the opposite of the tuck-in strategy. The other seven target companies were sold to “new-entry” owners who were not previously invested in the commercial printing industry. Notably, six of the seven buyers entering the printing business acquired small franchise operations. The seventh new entry acquired a business that was a combination of commercial printing and reprographic operations. In other words, if we excluded the very smallest storefront-type operations, there were no new investors in the commercial printing business.

Digging a little deeper, we looked for instances in which buyers cited geographic expansion and/or the addition of new services as the rationale behind their acquisitions. We also noted whether a private equity sponsor was involved.


Within these attributes, the addition of a new service was the most often cited reason for completing a transaction. When is commercial printing a new service? What types of companies are buying into the commercial printing business in the current environment? Examples over the past twelve months include a mailing service company moving into commercial printing via an acquisition (a classic example of printing industry convergence), a specialty magazine publisher acquiring a commercial printing company, and finally an existing commercial printing company that was acquired for its nascent folding carton business.

Many owners we speak with in the commercial printing segment have reminisced with us about how well their companies performed in 2022. The positive, sometimes stellar, performance continued right through 2023 for some. That started to change as the fourth quarter of 2023 rolled into 2024, as conditions tightened. We have been told by many owners that business to date in 2025 has been downright challenging.

With reduced demand for commercial printing services, complaints about a shortage of qualified labor have greatly diminished, but not disappeared completely, as some owners note that finding well-trained operators remains a common problem, especially for analog machines. Complaints about the paper supply are a thing of the past, and companies have worked off the excess inventory that was purchased during the paper shortage. According to owners we speak with, pricing power has in large part shifted back to the buyers.

Interest in commercial printing from private equity has waned over the past year, with no new PE-backed printing platforms being announced. We have not returned to the dark days of the post-recession, pre-Covid years, when there was scant interest in commercial printing from financial investors. However, private equity investors are clearly cautious about the printing business.

Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the commercial printing segment during the past twelve months is Drummond’s acquisition of two printing companies in the Atlanta, Georgia, metro area. Drummond, based in Jacksonville, Florida, and one of the more prominent practitioners of the regional roll-up strategy, executed a double-header in the Atlanta metro market. The company announced the acquisition of Tucker Castleberry Printing, a long-established commercial printer in Atlanta proper, and New London Communications, located just north in Alpharetta, Georgia. This move reinforces Drummond’s sustained growth strategy across the Southeastern US and adds to its presence in its key secondary metro market.

In contrast to the national roll-ups, the regional strategy relies on a patient building out of a strong market presence in the selected metro via a series of acquisitions, both of operating companies and tuck-ins. (For more, see The Target Report: Is M&A Activity in Commercial Print Poised for a Comeback? – May 2025). 

Packaging

For the fifth consecutive year, the packaging business remains the most active among the segments we track. However, consistent with the trend over the past two years, the number of publicly announced transactions declined in the packaging segments during the past year. Activity in the previously red-hot market for label printing companies has continued, albeit at a cooler pace. Over the past twelve months, we identified only 16 transactions involving label printing companies, in contrast to 29 and 41 deals in 2021 and 2022, respectively, when private equity was fueling the market. In contrast to the steady year-over-year results for label companies, the number of acquisitions of corrugated and folding carton manufacturers declined from last year.


Owners and investors in the packaging industry, when they talk about their rationale for completing an acquisition, tell a very different story than those in commercial printing. Of the 37 transactions we recorded over the past twelve months in the packaging segment, only one was reported to be a tuck-in acquisition. This was the consolidation of an older folding carton plant into a nearby existing operation, which gained capacity following the divestment of its non-packaging business. (The same company, Meyers, the buyer, acquired a folding carton company last year in a comparable tuck-in transaction.)


Similar to all prior years, the majority of the buyers noted that the acquisition of an additional production facility was the critically important reason for completing the deal. Furthermore, the expansion of the company’s geographic footprint was mentioned as very important to the buyer.


Private equity was involved in 19 of the 37 total transactions in packaging, accounting for 51% of the total, which is the same ratio as the prior year. Seven new players entered the packaging business, three of which established brand new investment platforms in packaging.

In six instances, geographic expansion or diversity of the acquired locations was noted as a key element in the buyer’s logic for completing an acquisition; however, as a percentage of announced deals, geographic expansion appears to be less important than in the past.

Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the packaging segment over the past twelve months is not a single transaction; rather, we view the impact of International Paper’s acquisition of DS Smith as hugely impactful. The deal for DS Smith was initially fraught with cross-border intrigue, as International Paper (IP) intervened in a deal that was already in place between UK-based companies Mondi and DS Smith. After International Paper pushed Mondi out of the way, the European Commission required IP to sell five European plants to the Palm Group, based in Germany. IP subsequently announced the closure of an additional eighteen facilities in the US as the company rationalized its new global position in the packaging substrate market. The majority of closures announced over the past year were facilities that produce products also made by DS Smith, including containerboard, corrugated sheet, and corrugated cartons. (For more, see The Target Report: Paper Industry Transformation Moves Forward – October 2024).

Wide-Format and Related Digital Products

For our purpose in forming a picture of the various market segments that comprise the overall print-centric industries, we separate companies that produce mostly wide-format and related products from the more generalized commercial printing segment. Companies that primarily produce trade show exhibits are included in the retail display category. Companies that focus on event graphics, architecture graphics, and experiential graphics are included in the grand format category. Companies that operate primarily in the transportation business, as well as wide-format printing companies with a core focus on vehicle wraps, are grouped together in the fleet graphics category. The banners and boards category is a catch-all designation that captures the companies that provide what are now generic wide-format printing services.


Differentiation in the wide-format business has moved from those that had first-mover advantage to companies that have perfected more complex online direct-to-customer systems, robust planning and installation capabilities, or value-added services such as printing on canvas for use as home or office décor (and even these attributes are no longer sufficient to provide unique differentiation). Notably, a new category, experiential graphics, has been emerging that rests on a robust foundational ability to produce quality wide-format graphics, and moreover, the capacity to take those graphics to the next level, adding structural elements, sound systems, lighting, among other added features that create a comprehensive and immersive brand or entertainment experience.


The wide-format business has matured into a segment with steady transactional activity. We noted last year that tuck-ins became a feature of the wide-format deal space for the first time, surely a result of the stress experienced by wide-format businesses in the aftermath of the Covid shutdown. Events and retail traffic have rebounded, and as the data indicates, graphic companies have responded. The number of tuck-ins is down, and buyers are acquiring companies that increase capacity, keeping the acquired facilities in operation.


We noted a total of 21 publicly reported transactions in the wide-format segment during the past twelve months, exactly the same number we found last year. Private equity is even more active in the wide-format segment; however, no new PE-backed platforms were created in the wide-format segment over the past year. Nonetheless, we expect that deal activity will remain robust over the next several years as the undifferentiated players experience an increasingly competitive market, and the leaders in event, retail, architectural, and experiential graphics create compelling businesses that attract financial investors.

There were numerous interesting transactions in the wide-format space, making it difficult to decide which one stands out above the rest. The January ’24 purchase of Vomela by The Riverside Company is certainly a candidate, as is Wasserman’s acquisition in March ’24 of Bluemedia, the Arizona-based firm that transforms environments via large-format printing, installation, and branding. However, the one company that possibly best represents the transition to experiential graphics is the purchase by Moss of UK-based Rocket Graphics in February ’24. Moss, a wide-format fabric printing company based in Franklin, Illinois, has grown to exceed $100 million in revenue by staying focused almost exclusively on the unique niche application of graphic tensioned fabric installations. That growth has come via the serial execution of acquisitions, each expanding its geographic range and breadth of applications, but remaining laser-focused on the use of printed fabrics held in tension. (For more, see The Target Report: Think Outside the Rectilinear – February 2025).

Direct Mail

In our lexicon and analysis, high-volume direct mail printing companies are in a class by themselves, apart from the more generalized undifferentiated “job-shop” commercial printing companies that may offer some mailing capabilities. Many direct mail shops also manage, manipulate, store, and utilize data to drive improved results for their customers. Some have expanded into full-service marketing support companies, blending digital communication channels with mail campaigns.


Transactional activity in the direct mail printing segment perked up this past year, after several years of very tepid activity. The mix was about one-third structured as tuck-ins, with the balance justified by the addition of an operating facility. We also note that five direct mail companies filed for bankruptcy in the past year, and four other companies announced the closure of direct mail facilities.


An expanded geographic footprint grew in importance to direct mail company buyers, driven, as we have noted over the past several years, by the need to mitigate the impact of slower mail delivery standards. Multi-location disaster recovery planning also plays a part in the direct mail M&A activity, especially for the larger mailers serving enterprise-level customers with mission-critical document processing. Private equity has increasingly been a factor in the direct mail business, driving growth via acquisitions.

Our candidate for the most interesting transaction in the direct mail segment during the past twelve months is the bankruptcy filing of Publishers Clearing House. The company was reportedly the highest-volume mailer in the United States at one time, second only to the IRS during tax season. During the heyday of its mail-order and online retail merchandise business, prior to the domination of online retail by Amazon and Walmart, PCH was generating approximately one billion dollars in revenue per year. With revenue down to only $38 million in 2025, the company announced its complete and total exit from the print and mail mediums. Going forward, the company will market its services only via digital channels. (For more, see The Target Report: The Prize Patrol Goes Digital – April 2025).

Challenged Segments

The transactional activity in an industry segment tells us that the business is changing. However, the simple counting of deals does not tell us if that activity is indicative of positive or negative change. To determine a directional indication, we track the number of bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy plant closures and correlate this information with the overall transactional activity. Our thesis, confirmed over several years and supported by industry statistics from other sources, is that an industry segment with a high number of transactions that is also experiencing closures and bankruptcies is, or will be, in a contraction phase. There will be opportunities for consolidation at bargain prices for those companies that defy the downward trend.

Conversely, segments in which the number of transactions is inversely correlated to closures and bankruptcies are more likely to be expanding. Therefore, consolidation opportunities will come at much higher prices. Virtually all the packaging segments are experiencing steady transactional activity, albeit fewer deals than in prior years, without the corresponding bankruptcy filings and plant closures, indicating that packaging remains a very healthy environment for sellers as the segment continues to consolidate.

The data on bankruptcy filings flashed a moderate warning sign last year, and that indicator is once again on the increase, albeit only a moderate rise. Another mitigating factor that becomes apparent when examining the data more closely is that many of the printing companies that file Chapter 7, resulting in the liquidation of the company, are very small storefront operations whose owners apparently did not realize that there are other options.


There have not been many bankruptcy filings in our industry that survive the process, except for the very large companies, such as LSC Communications, that can bear the cost and customer concern that accompany a bankruptcy filing. The more likely, and almost certainly a better outcome, is the sale of the book of business in a tuck-in transaction and a concurrent non-bankruptcy closure.


The commercial printing segment again takes the ignominious position as the leader in the number of bankruptcies filed. Also notable, as mentioned previously, five of the bankruptcy filings were in the direct mail segment.

Our candidate for the most interesting bankruptcy filing during the past twelve months was the failure of Landa Digital Printing. With an installed global base of over fifty machines, each reportedly costing approximately $3.5 million, the company burned through more than $1.3 billion of investors’ money before filing for bankruptcy. What matters most to the owners of the installed machines, who placed their bet on the Landa presses to be the next wave of high-quality digital printing, is that a buyer is found to resurrect the company and provide ongoing support and supplies. A recent announcement suggests that a buyer has stepped up to rescue the company. (See The Target Report: Challenges and Opportunities: Hardware versus Software – June 2025).

We also track non-bankruptcy plant closures as a good indicator of financial challenges within each industry segment, possibly even a more prescient predictor than the number of bankruptcies. While some companies simply close up and just disappear, others find a buyer for the book of business and conduct an orderly wind-down process. It is important to note that a closure does not always mean that the company has ceased operating; a closure may simply be due to one of the larger printing or materials manufacturing firms rationalizing their production capacity. In any event, closures are indicative of change, usually resulting from downward pressure in a market segment.

The number of non-bankruptcy closures began to climb in 2023 and continued that trend in the past twelve months. In absolute terms, we found 61 publicly announced plant closures during the past twelve months, a dramatic increase over the 41 in the prior year, and the highest number since we began tracking non-bankruptcy closures in 2012 (the highest previous count was 57 non-bankruptcy closures announced in the twelve months ended August 31, 2014).


When we break down the closure numbers by segment, the picture is not as grim as the gross numbers might suggest. The main driver of the increase in announced plant closures is the ongoing restructuring within the paper industry. Mills are closing, and with them, many of the related box manufacturing plants. This has been a long-term trend, greatly accelerated over the past year due to the aforementioned rationalization of US-based plants by International Paper.

Not surprisingly, plants that print newspapers and the related web offset advertising inserts closed down in greater numbers. More trade binderies closed than we have seen in the past, most likely due to decreased demand from commercial printing companies, as well as those same trade customers bringing bindery services in-house to better serve their customers and improve cost competitiveness. Not surprisingly, companies that print newspapers are closely linked to the local newspaper publishers, with almost all the closures occurring as local community newspapers cease publication.


The slight rumblings of discontent that we heard last year are definitely a bit louder now, but are not deafening. The post-Covid demand boom is over. The money from the government largess has by now been fully absorbed, spent, or saved. Loans for new capital equipment come with higher rates. Print-buying customers are exercising price discipline. Uncertainty over trade policy continues unabated. A numbness has set in, and many of the company owners we speak with are adjusting to the new normal. If current conversations are an indication of what to expect over the next year, more sellers will come to market, and there will be more opportunities for buyers to grow through a thoughtful, strategic acquisition plan, including a likely increase in the availability of tuck-ins.

We will continue to watch and report as we enter our fifteenth year of researching M&A in the printing, packaging, and related industries, and publish the monthly issues of The Target Report. Stay tuned.

   
2025 August - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes

Links
Wallace Graphics$40.4Duluth, GAStandard PressNo DataAtlanta, GA8/26/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Noisy CreekNo DataSeattle, WAThe Chicago ReaderNo DataChicago, IL8/26/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
O'Rourke Media GroupNo DataSaint Albans, VTArizona Silver Belt (+2 titles)
(Prop. News Media Corporation)		No DataRochelle, IL8/21/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspapersLink
Private BuyersNo DataSeattle, WAHonblueNo DataHonolulu, HI8/20/25No DataAcquisition
(New Direction)		Commercial & reprographicsLink
Platinum ConvertingNo DataBartlett, ILChicago LaminatingNo DataArlington Heights,
IL		8/19/25No DataAcquisitionLamination servicesLink
Impact XM
(Port co The Riverside Company)		No DataDayton, NJShelton FlemingNo DataLondon, UK8/19/25No DataAcquisitionExperiential graphics & eventsLink
Hoffmann Media Group
(Div. Hoffman Family of Companies)		No DataFort Myers, FLTelluride Daily Planet
(+3 titles)		No DataTelluride, CO8/18/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Reliant Mailing ServicesNo DataHendersonville, NCNC PrintingNo DataHendersonville,
NC		8/18/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Minuteman Press BloomingtonNo DataBloomington, MN Express Press PrintingNo DataEdina, MN8/14/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Image360 Charleston
(New Franchisee)		No DataMyrtle Beach, SCImage360 CharlestonNo DataNorth Charleston,
SC		8/7/25No DataAcquisitionWide-format printingLink
TC Transcontinental$2,015Montreal, QCIntergraphics Decal
(Div. Canva Group)		No DataWinnipeg8/7/25No DataAcquisitionIndustrial printingLink
TC Transcontinental$2,015Montreal, QCMirazed (Div. Canva Group)
(Port co. W Investments)		No DataSaint-Hubert, QC8/7/25No DataAcquisitionScreen & wide-format printingLink
Royercomm PrismNo DataMoorestown, NJVictor PrintingNo DataCherry Hill, NJ8/5/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Premier Press$48.0Portland, ORPOD4PrintNo DataDurham, OR8/5/25No DataAcquisitionDirect mail printingLink
 Duplo InternationalNo DataAddlestone, UKBar Graphic MachineryNo DataBradford, UK8/1/25No DataAcquisitionLabel finishing equipmentLink

   
2025 August - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Complemar Print, LLC8/28/25No Data25-20611Buffalo, NJ2ndWestern NY
Rochester		Judge WarrenSara C. TemesCommercial Printing
Chapter 7 Filings:
 Tennessee Media Plus, LLC8/25/25No Data25-31599Knoxville, TN6thEastern TN
Knoxville		Suzanne H. BauknightMaurice K. GuinnLabel & tag converting

     
2025 August- Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Sterling Finishing9/19/25No DataGlenside, PANoneN/A8/21/25Bindery servicesLink
International Paper - Containerboard facility9/30/25No DataSavannah, GAInternational PaperMemphis, TN8/21/25Containerboard productionLink
International Paper - Packaging facility9/30/25No DataSavannah, GAInternational PaperMemphis, TN8/21/25Corrugated boxesLink
International Paper - Containerboard facility9/30/25No DataRiceboro, GAInternational PaperMemphis, TN8/21/25Containerboard productionLink
Puritan Capital11/30/25$10.2Hollis, NHNoneN/A8/21/25Book printingLink
Northwest Offset Printing10/31/25No DataSpokane Valley, WANoneN/A8/21/25Newspaper & insert printingLink
News Media Corporation
23 Titles across 5 states		8/6/25No DataWY (6), IL (7), AZ (5)
SD (4) & NE (1)		News Media CorporationRochelle, IL8/6/25Community newspapersLink
 Spiral Binding - Distribution center10/27/25No DataCamarillo, CASpiral BindingTotowa, NJ8/6/25Bindery products & servicesLink
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Search

PE Places Bets on Two New Packaging Platforms – September 2025 M&A Activity

October 7, 2025, 2:37 pm
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September 2025 was marked by the establishment of two new private equity-backed platforms in the packaging segments, underscoring the continued appeal of packaging as a growth and consolidation play for financial sponsors. While the PE-driven fever to acquire new label printing and other packaging companies has steadily cooled down over the past three years, these latest transactions reaffirm that, although lessened, the owners of independent packaging printing companies can expect continued interest from private equity firms to provide at least one possible path to an exit when they are ready.

Portrait Capital Enters the Packaging Segment

A new platform focused on label printing was formed by Portrait Capital, which entered the sector with two acquisitions announced on the same day. The platform was established with the acquisition of AAi Labels & Decals, located in Jonesboro, Arkansas. AAi Labels & Decals utilizes screen printing, flexography, offset, digital, and wide-format printing technologies to produce a diverse range of products, most notably durable labels that can withstand outdoor and industrial environments. Compliance requirements often drive demand for these products, and as such, they must often meet strict performance specifications. These labels include safety notices, informational decals, and nameplates that manufacturers apply to their new equipment products. Durable labels are attractive to private equity due to the regulatory-driven demand, high barriers to entry due to certification processes to meet specifications, and the recurring need for these types of labels on almost everything that is manufactured.

Portrait Capital simultaneously announced its first bolt-on acquisition to the AAi Labels platform, Texas-based Sticker Ranch. The acquired company sells labels via its online shopping portal, which includes a simple-to-use design tool and ordering interface. Sticker Ranch brings an updated sales channel to the mix, layered onto the well-established AAi production platform. The founder of Sticker Ranch has been tapped to be the CEO of the new platform, while the former owners of AAi Labels & Decals begin their transition to retirement. The announcement left no doubt that Portrait Capital will pursue additional strategic acquisitions for its new platform investment.

CORE Industrial Partners Forms Momentium

Momentium, a new company launched by CORE Industrial Partners, represents the creation of a platform brand to bring together prior related investments under one unified umbrella. The new platform brand was unveiled with the announcement that CORE acquired Superior Lithographics. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Superior specializes in large-format offset-printed products, including folding cartons, top sheets for corrugated cartons, and litho labels. The acquired company is focused on serving the food and consumer product markets that drive recurring revenue for printed packaging. Superior’s history is grounded in providing high-quality litho sheets that are used to decorate corrugated cartons, such as those used in discount-club warehouse-environment stores where consumers self-serve multipacks of a product.

In addition to the latest acquisition of Superior, the Momentium platform now incorporates CORE’s two prior packaging acquisitions. In December 2023, the fund acquired Century Box, a folding carton manufacturer based in Methuen, Massachusetts. In its announcement of that deal, Core Industrial Partners clearly articulated that Century Box was only the first round in its reentry to the packaging industry. Strategic initiatives and complementary acquisitions were planned and implemented. Less than a week later, the fund made good on its promise and announced round two, the acquisition of General Converting, a folding carton manufacturer in Bolingbrook, Illinois. (See The Target Report: The One-Two Punch Platform– November 2023.)

The aggregation of the three packaging companies under the Momentium platform brand enables CORE to promote a consolidated offering with over 400,000 square feet of manufacturing, with more than 370 employees across six facilities in three states. In addition to adding product capabilities, this latest acquisition reflects the strong trend in the packaging industry for companies to build geographic diversity via their acquisition strategies. With the purchase of Superior, Momentium can now claim coast-to-coast coverage in its manufacturing base. (For more on recent trends in the packaging segments, see The Target Report Annual Review – TTM August 2025.)

New Packaging Platforms Expand PE Focus to Specialty Labels

There has been a steady drumbeat of new platforms established in the packaging segments over the past couple of years. After several years of a red-hot market for flexo-based manufacturing companies that produce high-volume prime label products, the past year has been marked by the launch of platforms that aim to exploit more nuanced niches within the larger packaging market.

In June, Seneca Label & Packaging was launched by label industry veteran Nizar Elias with the purchase of Seneca Printing Express & Label.* The acquired company, located in western Pennsylvania, focuses primarily on serving the industrial market with cut-and-stack label products produced on offset presses. The acquisition was notable not only for the specialty products produced but also for the buyer’s plans to use Seneca Label as a platform for additional acquisitions.

In another non-prime-label transaction, Chattanooga, Tennessee-based private equity firm River Associates acquired ID Label at the end of last year. The acquired company produces variable information barcode labels and warehouse signage. The company’s labels, although not packaging per se, are attached to all sorts of packages as they move through the supply chain. River Associates noted that the acquisition was intended as a platform company investment and that they will be seeking complementary add-on acquisitions.

These differentiated packaging platforms illustrate a shift from high-volume prime labels toward specialized, defensible niches such as durable labels, variable barcode labels, industrial and compliance-driven products.

Abundant Opportunities Remain

Statistics from industry groups indicate that while the production of labels, folding cartons, and flexible packaging is highly concentrated in a few large manufacturers at the top end of each segment, there are still a considerable number of independently owned companies in the middle and especially at the lower end of the scale in terms of size. While the top firms capture a large share of the business, a substantial portion of the demand for packaging still goes to a long tail of independent companies that compete on service, customization, niche substrates and applications, speed-to-market, specialty coatings, short runs, and regional logistics. For owners contemplating an exit, September’s transactional activity serves as a reminder that private equity’s appetite for packaging remains strong, especially in specialized and differentiated niches.

* Graphic Arts Advisors, publisher of The Target Report, served as exclusive advisor to Seneca Printing Express & Label in this transaction.
   
2025 September - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Links
O'Rourke Media GroupNo DataSaint Albans, VTGunnison Country TimesNo DataGunnison, CO9/30/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
Welch Packaging GroupNo DataElkhart, INElite PackagingNo DataJeffersonville, IN9/29/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
SkandacorNo DataWebster, NYBagels SystemsNo DataBarcelona, Spain9/25/25No DataAcquisitionPrint laminating equipmentLink
J3 Marquee VenturesNo DataSalisbury, MOThe Glasgow Missourian
(Prop. Main Street Media)		No DataGlasgow, MO9/19/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
Portrait CapitalNo DataNew York, NYSticker RanchNo DataSan Antonio, TX9/19/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Portrait CapitalNo DataNew York, NYAAi Labels & DecalsNo DataJonesboro, AR9/19/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Hybrid Software GroupNo DataCambridge, UKConicsNo DataYpres, Belgium9/18/25No DataAcquisitionGraphic software consultingLink
Momentium
(Port co. CORE Industrial Partners)		No DataBolingbrook, ILSuperior LithographicsNo DataLos Angeles, CA9/16/25No DataAcquisition
(Mesirow)		Folding cartonsLink
Compu-Mail$24.0Grand Island, NYTwenty-First Century PressNo DataBuffalo, NY9/10/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial PrintingLink
Hybrid Software GroupNo DataCambridge, UKBrandz
(Div. Congra Software)		No DataGhent, Belgium9/10/25No DataAcquisitionPackaging design softwareLink
LabelinkNo DataAnjou, QCl’EmpreinteNo DataLaval, QC9/8/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial PrintingLink
FIMI Opportunity FundsNo DataTel Aviv, IsraelLanda Corporation Ltd.
dba Landa Digital Printing		$18.2Rehovot, Israel9/7/25$80.0Debt-to-Equity  ConversionDigital printing equipmentLink
Public ProductsNo DataSarasota, FLBC SalesNo DataSarasota, FL9/5/25No DataAcquisitionScreen printing apparelLink
South Texas NewsNo DataBeeville, TXThe Banner-PressNo DataBrenham, TX9/5/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
Paxton Media GroupNo DataPaducah, KYBetter Newspapers (15 titles)No DataMascoutah, IL9/2/25No DataAcquisition
(Cribb & Associates)		Community newspapersLink
Paxton Media GroupNo DataPaducah, KYLeader Publications (3 titles)
(Prop. Boone Newsmedia)		No DataNiles, MI9/2/25No DataAcquisition
(Cribb & Associates)		Community newspapersLink
Veritiv
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		No DataAtlanta, GAS. Walter Packaging Corp.No DataTrevose, PA9/2/25No DataAcquisitionSpecialty packagingLink
 Nelson MediaNo DataAnsgar, IAThe Belmond IndependentNo DataBelmond, IA9/1/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink

   
2025 September - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Rockford Silk Screen Process, Inc.9/17/25No Data25-81268Loves Park, IL7thNorthern IL
Rockford		Thomas M. LynchGeorge P. HampilosFleet graphics
 Presentation Media9/2/25No Data25-17723Gardena, CA9thCentral CA
Los Angeles		Sheri BluebondSteven R. FoxRetail display & trade show exhibits
 Chapter 7 Filings:         
All In Graphics & Printing LLC9/11/25No Data25-15365Las Vegas, NV9thNevada
Las Vegas		Natalie M. CoxRory J. VohwinkelPrinting & copying
 Baldwin Graphics, Inc.9/4/25No Data25-00364Washington, DC4thDistrict of ColumbiaElizabeth L. GunnRichard G. HallPrinting & copying

   
2025 September - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Phoenix Press10/9/25No DataNew Haven, CTNoneN/ASep-25Commercial printingLink
Epic Print10/16/25No DataFletcher, NCNoneN/ASep-25Commercial printingLink
Action Printing10/31/25No DataFond du Lac, WIMarketing.com
(Port co. JAL Equity)		Eureka, MO9/26/25Publication & catalog printingLink
 Sheridan - Printing facility2/28/26No DataRandom Lakes, WISheridan
(Div. CJK Group)		Madison, WI9/22/25Publication & catalog printing
(Formerly Times Printing, then Kappa Printing)		Link
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Corrugated Sheet and Box Production – October 2025 M&A Activity

November 7, 2025, 7:27 pm
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In 1856, tall top hats were the height of fashion for men. Two English gentlemen in the hatter trade, Edward G. Healy and Edward E. Allen, resolved to find a material that would maintain the tall shape, yet was flexible to fit individual noggins. The solution they arrived at was to form paper into pleats, giving it a wavy shape for strength. They fed paper through a very simple hand-cranked machine that had two intersecting fluted rollers, typically used to create ruffled fabric, such as on collars or cuffs. They patented the invention in England, but never made the leap to using their invention to create a shipping box.

American ingenuity was behind the next step forward in the form of a US patent filed in 1871 by Albert L. Jones for “an improvement in paper for packing,” which described the use of “corrugated or crimped sheet of paper to one side of which is attached a flat sheet of paper by pasting” to create an effective cushion for the contents being packed. A common use was to wrap the corrugated paper around fragile items such as bottles or kerosene lamp chimneys.

Three years later, a machine was developed for producing large quantities of corrugated material. That same year, another inventor, Oliver Long, added a liner sheet to the second side, trapping the corrugation in the middle and producing the corrugated material we know today. In 1894, the first corrugated box was manufactured in the US. The cheaper product quickly replaced the previously dominant wooden crates and boxes used to ship products.

Corrugated’s Long Boom

For the past decade, the corrugated packaging sector has stood apart from the ups and downs of the broader general commercial print industry. Corrugated production surged before, during, and after the Covid pandemic shutdown. Every click by an online shopper echoed down the supply chain to a box converter, corrugated sheet production line, kraft linerboard mill, and yes, even to the loggers bringing in the raw timber for pulp. Business was good, which drove a steady stream of mergers and acquisitions.

As we observed as far back as 2015, the transactional activity in the manufacturing of boxes of all sorts was brisk, unlike its troubled cousin, commercial printing. Not only was the box far less susceptible to disruption by the transition of content to online sources, but the inherent recurring nature of packaging production also made the entire box supply chain desirable for investment. (See The Target Report: The Box is in Demand – October 2015.)

Three years later, we chronicled how the sector shed its image as a mature commodity business. At that time, the CEO of DS Smith (now merged into International Paper), commenting on the company’s acquisition, exclaimed that the corrugated segment was “an exciting and fast-paced environment where we are experiencing strong momentum.” (See The Target Report: Corrugated Gets Glam - May 2018.)

The enthusiasm for the corrugated box business continued unabated at the local supplier level with consolidators such as Welch Packaging. The company executed one acquisition after another in its laser-focused campaign of acquiring family-owned corrugated box companies. (See The Target Report: Catching the Wave in Corrugated Cartons – February 2020.)

The Covid pandemic certainly did not cool acquirers’ ardor for the corrugated business. In a classic bidding war that played out globally in the public markets, International Paper announced in April 2024 that it had prevailed over Mondi in the competition to land DS Smith. The industry was in a full-scale frenzy of roll-ups and consolidation plays. (See The Target Report: Corrugated Consolidation – June 2024.)

Corrugated Sheet and Box Producers Hit the Brakes

Now the story has turned. The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2025 that U.S. box shipments had fallen to their lowest levels since 2016 and that nearly nine percent of domestic containerboard capacity had gone offline within eight months. The Journal article stated that this was an unprecedented and sudden decline that represents roughly twice the capacity lost during the 2009 recession. The M&A and plant closure data from October confirms what many operators already feel: the corrugated market has entered an uncompromising correction phase. In October, corrugated producers announced the closure of four plants.

Georgia-Pacific is closing its corrugated box production facility in Mt. Olive, Illinois. This follows the company’s closure of its large containerboard mill in Cedar Springs, Georgia, announced in May 2025.

Smurfit-Westrock, headquartered in Ireland, announced the closure of a corrugated sheet & box production facility in the City of Industry in California. The company has been aggressively downsizing since Smurfit acquired Westrock in July 2024. The CEO noted that subsequent to the merger, the company has shed 4,500 employees and closed mill capacity of 500,000 tons of containerboard and consumer board grades. However, it is not all gloom and doom about the corrugated business at Smurfit-Westrock; the company recently announced that it would invest nearly $19.3 million in its Saltillo, Mississippi operation over the next year, expanding its production of corrugated cases, boxes, and trays.

Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) announced the closure of two corrugated sheet & box production facilities, one in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the other in Salisbury, North Carolina. This follows the company’s earlier announcement this year that it would close its corrugated box manufacturing facility in East Point, Georgia.

As we previously reported, it was only a week after their respective shareholders had separately approved the sale of DS Smith to International Paper that International Paper announced the closure of six facilities. (See The Target Report: Paper Industry Transformation Moves Forward – October 2024.) Shortly after the deal closed on January 31, 2025, the drumbeat of plant closure announcements resumed. A total of eighteen plants have closed since International Paper won the bidding war for DS Smith.



Rationalization, Not Retreat

It would be a mistake to read the current downturn as existential for the corrugated business. The corrugated sector remains indispensable, but it is adjusting after a decade of relentless consolidation. The closures announced in October and over the past year represent the squeezing out of redundant and less efficient facilities. The combination of Smurfit with Westrock, each in itself the result of a series of mergers, and International Paper’s purchase of DS Smith were both huge deals, bringing together extensive networks of mills and production facilities. Such large deals are bound to require rationalization of facilities to eliminate redundancies. The surprise is not that these two behemoths are closing facilities; rather, it is the magnitude and scope of the reductions that tells us that the company’s leadership teams perceive soft underlying market conditions in addition to the need to rationalize their production networks.

The Wall Street Journal has hypothesized that the corrugated market is a harbinger of the state of the larger economy. As demand for corrugated sheet has retreated to the lowest levels since 2016, some see this as an indication that we are headed into a recession. Among other reasons, trade tensions have led to a decline in exports, thereby reducing demand. The housing market has been softer, resulting in reduced new purchases of appliances and furniture that require a lot of corrugated packaging. These and other trends find their way up through the supply chain, reducing demand for packaging.

Another theory for the dramatic reduction in demand for corrugated is that the big e‑commerce companies are revising their shipping processes, reducing box size, shipping more items in paper and plastic envelopes, and avoiding box-in-a-box packing. On-demand box-making machines that customize each box to the exact required size also reduce the use of packaging materials.

A Month of Mixed Signals

In contrast to all the plant closures in corrugated products, adjacent paper-based segments are holding their own. ProAmpac’s purchase of International Paper’s bag converting operations extends its sustainable-materials portfolio. Cascades sold its Cascades Flexible Packaging business to Texas-based Five Star Holding, which takes Cascades out of the printed plastic packaging and films business, allowing greater focus on its fiber-based businesses. The paper recycling business consolidated further with FV Recycling, a Mississippi-based portfolio company of Jones Capital, as it acquired Mid America Paper Recycling, a Chicago-based company.

At the level of the local box manufacturer, the aforementioned Welch Packaging added another notch to its belt. In October, Welch announced the “merger” with Phoenix/Packaging of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Welch has completed a continuous stream of 42 acquisitions and now has in excess of 1,700 employees with over 26 manufacturing plants. It is an extraordinary story of a steady and deliberate 40‑year execution of a mission-focused acquisition strategy.

Corrugated paper products remain at the heart of the physical economy. Boxes still move goods, convey brands, and while doing so, protect the contents inside. While it may be an indication of an economic slowdown or possibly an imminent recession, the present downturn may simply be the corrugated packaging industry catching its breath after a remarkable run.
   
2025 October - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Links
Taylor CorporationNo DataNorth Mankato, MNGootenNo DataNew York, NY10/27/25No DataAcquisitionPrint-on-Demand systemLink
Arrow InternationalNo DataBrooklyn, OHGrover Gaming PrintingNo DataAyden, NC10/23/25No DataAssets AcquisitionSpecialty gaming productsLink
Welch Packaging GroupNo DataElkhart, INPhoenix/PackagingNo DataMount Joy, PA10/21/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
CastlePierceNo DataOshkosh, WIQuality Assured LabelNo DataNew Hope, MN10/20/25No DataAcquisitionLabels and carded packagingLink
ProAmpac
(Port co. Pritzker Partners)		No DataCincinnati, OHBag converting operations
(Div. International Paper)		No DataCA, OR & TX
(Memphis, TN)		10/17/25No DataAcquisitionPaper bag manufacturingLink
FV Recycling
(Port co. Jones Capital)		No DataHattiesburg, MSMid America Paper RecyclingNo DataChicago, IL10/14/25No DataAcquisitionPaper recyclingLink
Lewis ColorNo DataStatesboro, GACommercial Print Business
(Div. Apex Color)		No DataJacksonville, Fl10/13/25No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Commercial printingLink
WiseNo DataAlpharetta, GABusiness Forms Business
(Div. Apex Color)		No DataJacksonville, Fl10/13/25No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Business formsLink
Five Star HoldingNo DataHouston, TXCascades Flexible Packaging
(Div. Cascades)		No DataKingset Falls, QC10/8/25$22.2DivestitureFlexible packaging filmsLink
CAI Software
(Port co. STG Partners)		No DataLincoln, RIPrint ePSNo DataPittsburgh, PA10/8/25No DataMergerMIS system for printingLink
Blazing Trails MediaNo DataFlagstaff, AZThe Sidney Sun-Telegraph
(+3 Titles)		No DataSidney, NE10/3/25No DataAcquisition
(Cribb & Associates)		Community newspapersLink
Sheridan
Div. CJK Group		No DataBrainerd, MNVicks Lithograph & PrintingNo DataYorkville, NY10/3/25No DataSelect Assets AcquisitionPublication printingLink
 Alexander Watson AssociatesNo DataAmsterdam,
The Netherlands		Stirling ConsultingNo DataYarmouth, ME10/1/25No DataAcquisitionIndustry consultingLink

   
2025 October - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Bunting Graphics10/9/25No Data25-22741Verona, PA3rdWestern PA
Pittsburgh		Gregory L. TaddonioAndrew K. PrattArchitectural graphics & signage
 Altman & Nelson Printing Co., Inc.10/1/25No Data25-60091Victoria, TX5thSouthern TX
Houston		Christopher M. LopezRobert C. LaneCommercial printing
 Chapter 7 Filings:         
Thermal Label Warehouse, LLC10/30/25No Data25-32046Knoxville, TN6thEastern TN
Knoxville		Suzanne H. BauknightMaurice K. GuinnThermal label distributor
 HI Wind Down Corporation
(FKA Humanoids, Inc.)		10/13/25No Data25-11828Los Angeles, CA3rdDelaware
Wilmington		Thomas M. HoranDavid M. KlauderComic & graphic novel publishing
   

2025 October - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Jet Packaging12/7/25No DataDickson, TNValorFlexDickson, TNOct-25Flexible packaging & printed filmsLink
Rogers Printing11/13/25No DataRavenna, MINoneN/AOct-25Publication printingLink
Georgia-Pacific - Corrugated box plant12/31/25No DataMt. Olive, ILGeorgia-Pacific
(Div. Koch Industries)		Atlanta, GA10/30/25Corrugated box productionLink
Smurfit Westrock - Corrugated box plant12/14/25No DataCity of Industry, CASmurfit WestrockDublin, Ireland10/29/25Corrugated sheet & box productionLink
Reindl Bindery
(Div. Taylor Corp.)		11/12/25No DataGermantown, WITaylor CorporationNorth Mankato, MN10/7/25Bindery & finishing servicesLink
PCA - Full-line corrugated box plant12/1/25No DataAllentown, PAPackaging Corporation of America (PCA)Lake Forest, IL10/7/25Corrugated sheet & box productionLink
PCA - Full-line corrugated box plant12/19/25No DataSalisbury, NCPackaging Corporation of America (PCA)Lake Forest, IL10/7/25Corrugated sheet & box productionLink
FlexoprintNov-25No DataMesa, AZNoneN/A10/6/25Flexible packaging filmsLink
 FlexoprintNov-25No DataBaldwin, WINoneN/A10/6/25Flexible packaging filmsLink

↧
↧

New Consolidator Emerges – November 2025 M&A Activity

December 7, 2025, 6:24 pm
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The print and packaging industries have long been shaped by cycles of technical reinvention, growth, maturation, and consolidation. Over time, consolidators emerge within the various print and packaging segments. Some maintain a disciplined strategic acquisition strategy, carefully putting the pieces in place to build a solid, durable business, while others move quickly from one deal to the next. Eventually, some become overextended, and the structure begins to wobble.

Newly ascendant consolidators emerge, complete multiple transactions, and another cycle begins. As the new platform company constructs its network, it slowly becomes apparent which type of structure the consolidator is building: disciplined and durable, or overextended and unraveling.

A New Platform Takes Shape

RoyerComm Prism has emerged with surprising momentum as the newest consolidator in the commercial printing industry, with one foot in folding carton production. Beginning less than a year ago, the South Jersey commercial printing company, already a half-century in business, embarked on a parade of acquisitions that strikes an aggressive tone for the future, with three acquisitions announced within the first eleven months of 2025.

The transaction that established the RoyerComm Prism platform was announced just this past January as a merger between RoyerComm and Prism Color. According to the press release announcing the deal, in addition to commercial printing services, RoyerComm brought promotional products and fulfillment services to the combined entity. The foundation of the new platform was strengthened by Prism’s expertise in folding carton production.

In August, the newly established RoyerComm Prism announced it had acquired Victor Printing, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Company. The company's messaging around the acquisition was clear: the deal was a step forward in its mission and long-term vision to expand capacity and grow its team.

In November, RoyerComm Prism announced the acquisition of Brilliant Printing. Based on the other side of the Delaware River, in Exton, Pennsylvania, Brilliant Printing is a high-quality, premium commercial printing company that also produces collector edition books of photography, art, and fashion.

It is worth noting that while there is some directional confusion here (the mix of commercial printing, folding carton production, and premium picture book manufacturing suggests a platform still defining the precise contours of its long-term strategy), a rational geographic focus emanates from the core platform company’s home base. We will keep an eye on this latest consolidator, working to make sense of the contraction that is endemic to our industry. Whether this becomes a disciplined regional platform or a more diffuse roll-up remains a storyline to watch.

Disciplined Consolidators Stay on Course

Modern Litho, headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri, continued its measured expansion with the acquisition of Mpress in Kansas City. This latest acquisition by Modern Litho enhances the company’s central Midwestern footprint and adds capacity in the Kansas City market, where the company already has a meaningful presence.

Modern has executed a consistent strategy that has built a multi-pronged presence in the major central Midwest Missouri cities of Kansas City and St. Louis, both relatively equidistant from the original headquarters in Jefferson City, a short distance from the exact geographic center of the state. In 2023, the company added a facility in Columbia, Missouri, just 30 miles north of Jefferson City, along the Missouri River, positioned almost exactly midway between Kansas City and St. Louis on Interstate Route 70. Modern Litho truly has Missouri covered, from end to end.


The company has historically focused on publication and catalog printing for niche markets and has used strategic acquisitions to expand not only geographically but also to add other services, including marketing, direct mail, wide-format graphics, and custom packaging. Lest there be any doubt about the company’s intent to maintain its central Midwest presence, its website extols its growth-oriented strategy, expanding its “hub and spoke” manufacturing model.

The regional consolidation play appears to offer endurance and steady growth for those with the discipline to stay the course. The company reported revenue of $67 million in the 2025 industry listings of top companies, a dramatic increase from the $32 million reported in 2018, right before the latest run of acquisitions.

Another disciplined consolidator that has stayed focused geographically is Drummond Printing, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, executing a clear strategy to build out the company’s presence in the Atlanta, Georgia, market. The company recently acknowledged how important Atlanta has become in its plans. It announced that it is consolidating all its print manufacturing into two of its Atlanta facilities, while retaining the headquarters and warehousing in Jacksonville. The company reported revenue of $74 million in the 2025 listing, a strong showing from the $34 million in 2017. (See The Target Report: Is M&A Activity in Commercial Print Poised for a Comeback? – May 2025.)

Modern Litho and Drummond demonstrate the enduring power of regionally anchored strategies: focused footprints, coherent service mixes, and deliberate expansion within reach of the defined home base.

Is this Diverse National Roll-Up Unraveling?

Marketing.com may very well illustrate the risks inherent in the roll-up model when executed at high velocity across diverse verticals. With backing from private equity firm JAL Equity, the company has been one of the most active acquirers in the printing and related marketing production service industries. It has been an amazing story, with so many acquisitions, many unannounced, that it has been challenging to keep up and record them all. It has been a head-scratcher to figure out if there has been a coherent strategy underlying this national consolidator, or if this is simply an opportunistic run.

JAL Equity was formed in 2008 (under the name Prospect Marketing Group) as an acquisition platform and began assembling a string of small printing companies. Based in Sarasota, Florida, JAL Equity, via its various entities, has scooped up dozens of companies, including some stalwart names that were at one time considered some of the industry's best.

When JAL Equity launched the Marketing.com name in 2023, the press release claimed that the company had already completed 46 transactions. At that time, the company stated that its revenue was in excess of $500 million, it employed approximately 2,000 people and operated 34 locations. The list of acquisitions reads as a who’s who of highly-regarded company names in the industry: Knepper Press (Pittsburgh, PA), Las Vegas Color Graphics (Las Vegas, NV), Frye-Williamson Press (Springfield, IL), NPC (Tampa, FL), Brant InStore (Branford, ON), Stratis Visuals (Torrington, CT), Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI), and many more that readers of The Target Report would likely recognize. In addition to the Marketing.com brand, which now encompasses these and many other formerly independent companies, JAL Equity owns Tshirts.com, Printing.com, and many other print, promo, mailing, and fulfillment dotcom domains.

The seminal moment when the industry stood up and took notice of this relative newcomer to the printing industry was in August 2021, when JAL Equity formed ColorArt to acquire the former Cenveo commercial printing plants in Eureka, Missouri, Amarillo, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas. The acquisition of the Cenveo plants represented a quantum leap in the size of deals JAL Equity had previously completed. From that point forward, the acquisition spree kicked into high gear, as JAL Equity hoovered up several dozen printing companies, envelope manufacturers, mailing companies, promotional product distributors, and marketing services providers. In a remarkable karmic way, the Cenveo deal kicked off a redux of the original frenzied Mail-Well/Cenveo days that eventually did not end well (See The Target Report: CJK Goes Global as Cenveo Unwinds – September 2020 and The Target Report: Cenveo Returns to its Roots – July 2022.)

November 2025 brought that narrative into sharper focus. Two JAL-related entities filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the District of Nevada. Las Vegas Color Graphics, Inc. filed simultaneously with Color Art, LLC. The company filings reported $1 million to $10 million in assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities. The bankruptcy filings were preceded by a lawsuit filed by Aequum Capital in the Missouri Circuit Court, where Color Art is based, alleging a $26 million default and certain irregularities. The Judge in the Missouri case appointed a receiver to manage ColorArt; however, the federal bankruptcy filing supersedes the state court action, placing the company’s assets under the oversight of the federal bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy filing by two key assets raises questions about how other entities within the Marketing.com orbit may manage if financing or operational challenges intensify.

In December 2022, JAL Equity acquired Canadian firm Brant InStore (formerly known as Brant Screen Craft). The acquisition expanded JAL Equity's presence in Point-of-Purchase, display, and signage products. Earlier this year, a long list of printing equipment assets was sold at auction from two Brant InStore production facilities in Ontario. The Brant InStore website now redirects to Marketing.com’s Torrington, Connecticut location.

In September, Marketing.com filed a WARN Act notice in Wisconsin stating that the company was permanently closing the Action Printing facility in Fond du Lac, noting that the product line produced there was being discontinued. Action Printing had been acquired by Marketing.com just a year before, in August 2024.

While these closures and asset divestitures are not in themselves signs of possible larger issues at Marketing.com (the printing industry experiences many closures in the normal course of events as the industry consolidates). (For more on industry closures, see The Target Report Annual Review – TTM August 2025.) Nonetheless, the closure of Action Printing, the auction of the Canadian Brant InStore equipment, and the Las Vegas bankruptcy filings, taken together, are notable and warrant watching how this hyper-active national consolidator fares in the near future. The following year will reveal whether the platform stabilizes or if the roll-up model, executed at this velocity and breadth, proves unsustainable.

Focus Versus Size and Scope

In a landscape shaped by overcapacity, shifting demand patterns, and rising competitive pressure, the transactions in November provide a clear signal: the future in print does not necessarily belong to the biggest portfolio but is more likely to benefit the most focused platform. As this latest cycle unfolds, the companies that define the next era of commercial print will be those that align acquisitions with a coherent strategic identity and/or geographic rationale, not those that chase scale for its own sake.
   
2025 November - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes		Links
PDC Graphics$8.4Southhampton, PACox PrintersNo DataLinden, NJ11/30/25No DataAcquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Commercial printingLink
Loparex
(Port co. Pamplona Capital Mngt.)		No DataCary, NCEnterprise Coated ProductsNo DataManteno, IL11/24/25No DataAcquisitionRelease liner manufacturingLink
Pacific NexusNo DataSan Diego, CANonStopPrintingNo DataLos Angeles, CA11/21/25No DataAcquisitionSpecialty book printingLink
Lakeside Book Company
(Port co. Atlas Holdings)		No DataWarrenville, ILBaker & Taylor Publisher Services
(Div. Baker & Taylor)		No DataCharlotte, NC11/21/25No DataAcquisitionBook printing & distributionLink
Allegra Marketing Print MailNo DataLisle, ILAllegra RomeovilleNo DataRomeoville, IL11/19/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Minuteman Press WethersfieldNo DataWethersfield, CTAcademy PrintingNo DataBerlin, CT11/18/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Ennis$388.3Midlothian, TXCFC Print & Mail$8.6Grand Prairie, TX11/17/25No DataAcquisitionTrade printing & mailingLink
Alexander Watson AssociatesNo DataAmsterdam,
The Netherlands		AIPIANo DataUtrecht,
The Netherlands		11/14/25No DataAcquisitionIndustry consultingLink
PaperWorks Industries
(Port co. Gamut Capital)		No DataBala Cynwyd, PAColor Craft Graphic ArtsNo DataManitowoc, WI11/12/25No DataAcquisition
(Mesirow)		Folding cartonsLink
Fiery
(Sub. Seiko Epson)		No DataFremont, CAInèdit SoftwareNo DataBarcelona, Spain11/12/25No DataAcquisitionDigital textile printing softwareLink
Welch Packaging GroupNo DataElkhart, INABCOR PackagingNo DataCleveland, TN11/11/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxesLink
X-Rite
(Div Veralto)		No DataGrand Rapids, MIRutherford Graphic ProductsNo DataMoraine, OH11/7/25No DataAssets AcquisitionColor control systemsLink
SupplyOne
(Port co. Wellspring Capital)		No DataNewtown Square,
PA		Lamb & Associates PackagingNo DataMaumelle, AR11/6/25No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxes & displaysLink
RoyerComm PrismNo DataMoorestown, NJBrilliant GraphicsNo DataExton, PA11/5/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Modern Litho$67.0Jefferson City, MOMpressNo DataKansas City11/5/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
J. Louis MullenNo DataBuffalo, WYNews Printing Company (4 Titles)
(Div. Shaw Media)		No DataNewton, IA11/5/25No DataAcquisitionCommunity NewspapersLink
 Creative Solutions in HealthcareNo DataFort Worth, TXWes-Tex PrintingNo DataBrownwood, TX11/4/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
 
   
2025 November - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Envelope 1 Inc.11/12/25No Data25-23400Boca Raton, FL11thSouthern FL
West Palm Beach		Mindy A. MoraSusan D. LaskyEnvelope manufacturing
Las Vegas Color Graphics, Inc.
(Port co. JAL Equity)		11/5/25No Data25-16701Las Vegas, NV9thNevada
Las Vegas		Natalie M. CoxTeresa PilatowiczCommercial printing
Color Art, LLC
(Port co. JAL Equity)		11/5/25No Data25-16697Las Vegas, NV9thNevada
Las Vegas		Natalie M. CoxTeresa PilatowiczCommercial printing
 Klöckner Pentaplast of America, Inc.
(Div. Klöckner Pentaplast)		11/4/25No Data25-90660Gordonsville, VA5thSouthern TX
Houston		Christopher M. LopezJohn F. Higgins, IVFlexible packaging & films
 Chapter 7 Filings:         
 No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------

 
2025 November - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Releases
Executive Mailing Services12/16/25No DataPalos Hills, ILNoneN/A11/26/25Mailing & presort servicesLink
House of Printing12/11/25No DataBurtonsville, MDNoneN/A11/17/25Commercial PrintingLink
International Paper - Packaging facilityJan-26No DataCompton, CAInternational PaperMemphis, TN11/14/25Corrugated boxesLink
International Paper - Packaging facilityJan-26No DataLouisville, KYInternational PaperMemphis, TN11/14/25Corrugated boxesLink
Spiral Binding1/28/26No DataTotowa, NJNoneN/A11/13/25Bindery supplies & equipmentLink
YP Print12/31/25No DataKenner, LANoneN/A11/12/25Direct mail printingLink
Printpack - Flexible manufacturing plant1/5/26No DataElgin, ILPrintpackAtlanta, GA11/12/25Flexible packagingLink
 Smurfit Westrock - Packaging facility1/5/26No DataAtlanta, GASmurfit WestrockDublin, Ireland11/10/25Corrugated boxesLink

↧

Industry Transformation – December 2025 M&A Activity

January 7, 2026, 8:20 am
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Transformation versus Convergence

For much of the past decade, transformation has been framed as a destination: printers becoming packagers, converters becoming platforms, legacy printing businesses adding promotional products and other services to become one-stop shops. December 2025 suggested something more sobering and more demanding, as illustrated by two very different reciprocal strategic moves. Transformation, as illustrated by two transactions announced during the month, has become a continuous process, one that requires companies not only to enter new markets but to know when to turn sideways or exit them as well.

ProAmpac, the PE-backed, financially engineered consolidation vehicle focused initially solely on flexible packaging manufacturers, announced the acquisition of TC Transcontinental Packaging. This transaction does not merely shift ownership of assets; it marks a major inflection point not only in the corporate strategic arc of ProAmpac but also in that of the acquired division’s corporate parent, TC Transcontinental.

ProAmpac: From Aggregation to Leadership

ProAmpac’s origins are familiar to anyone who has followed private equity in packaging over the last fifteen years. ProAmpac was engineered from inception to be acquisitive. Its earliest iteration was not simply as a company, but a strategy, a disciplined roll-up, assembling a portfolio of flexible packaging converters with complementary footprints and customer bases. In its early years, the approach was straightforward: consolidate the fragmented, but growing, flexible packaging business.

What distinguished ProAmpac over time was its refusal to remain in that lane. In 2016, Wellspring Capital, the company’s initial PE sponsor, handed off the ProAmpac platform to Chicago-based Pritzker Private Capital (PPC), which reset the capital base and enabled the next decade of oftentimes frenzied acquisition activity.

One of those acquisitions was the purchase of the Rosenbloom Group, a Canadian company that manufactures bags, including plain brown bags, printed and branded grocery bags, bread bags, grease-resistant bags for French fries and donuts, fast-food takeout bags, and wine bottle bags. Millions and millions of paper-based bags - unpretentious, simple bags. This was a notable departure from the company’s positioning as a leading-edge producer of flexible packaging and pouches. This was the moment ProAmpac shifted from seeking market density to optimizing for market breadth. With this transaction, ProAmpac began diversifying and expanding its product offerings, marking the start of a strategy to acquire companies with a broader range of packaging products to serve its current and new markets (see The Target Report: Bags, Pouches, Trays & Bowls – December 2020).

The dealmakers at ProAmpac completed no less than ten acquisitions in 2021. In addition to expanding its product line to include paper bags, ProAmpac expanded vertically into its supply chain with the acquisition of APC Paper Group in Claremont, New Hampshire. The acquired company manufactures 100% recycled kraft-grade paper products, a key component in the previously acquired bag manufacturing companies.

Paper was not the only vertical integration move. Earlier that year, ProAmpac completed two other acquisitions that also moved the company vertically within its supply chain, purchasing IG Industries and Brayford Plastics, both UK-based manufacturers of plastic films used in bag and flexible packaging production. This vertical integration represented a fairly dramatic departure from the basic roll-up strategy. (See The Target Report: Packaging Industry Consolidation in Every Direction – July 2021.)

Additional acquisitions continued subsequent to the 2021 watershed period, further diversifying the company geographically, expanding the markets served, and introducing new product types. No longer simply a roll-up of flexible packaging companies based on plastic substrates, ProAmpac had transitioned to include a multitude of fiber-based packaging companies, including the acquisition of three kraft-paper mills. This shift to paper products was further enhanced and publicized with the early 2025 rollout of the company’s branding initiative, “Fiberization of Packaging.”

In August 2025, ProAmpac acquired PAC Worldwide. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, the acquired company specializes in protective mailers and specialty packaging for e‑commerce, courier, and retail applications. Despite the rather plain brown-paper nature of many of PAC’s mailers, the acquisition was framed positively within the broader strategic shift away from ProAmpac’s earlier positioning as a roll-up of flexible packaging companies. According to Greg Tucker, Founder, Vice Chairman, and CEO of ProAmpac, in the press release about the deal, “This is a transformational moment for our companies; we are creating unmatched packaging capabilities.” Another move to increase its fiber-based packaging capacity came in October 2025, when ProAmpac announced it had purchased International Paper's bag-converting operations.

In the waning days of 2025, ProAmpac announced the blockbuster acquisition of the TC Transcontinental Packaging division (“TCP”) from its Canadian parent company, TC Transcontinental. ProAmpac is paying approximately US $1.51 billion for TCP, representing a multiple of approximately 9 times EBITDA, calculated exclusive of operating leases. The TCP acquisition adds advanced capabilities in the dairy, meat, medical, and pharmaceutical end markets, as well as manufacturing sites in North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

As the flexible packaging sector has matured and simple multiple arbitrage (i.e., a larger company commands higher enterprise purchase multiples) has become harder to achieve, ProAmpac has begun shifting its acquisition strategy toward technology and capabilities. Barrier films, sustainable materials (fiber-based), advanced laminations, and specialized end-market solutions increasingly defined the deal rationale. The acquisition of TC Transcontinental Packaging represents the culmination of that evolution. This was not a tuck-in, nor a technology add-on. It was the absorption of a scaled, global packaging platform carved out of a diversified public company. For ProAmpac, this was, as stated in the press release, “a transformative milestone for both companies.”

TC Transcontinental: Reinvention, Repeated

If ProAmpac’s story is one of gradual evolution, TC Transcontinental’s is one of deliberate reinvention — not once, but multiple times.

For much of its history, TC Transcontinental (“TC”) was synonymous with newspaper and publication printing. At its peak, it was one of North America’s largest printers of newspapers, magazines, and retail flyers, benefiting from scale in a market that rewarded volume, logistics expertise, and long-term contracts. When that market began its secular decline, many peers hesitated, hoping the erosion would slow or reverse. TC Transcontinental did not wait.

In a decision we examined extensively in earlier Target Reports after it was first announced, TC Transcontinental chose to pivot away from its legacy identity. Given the headwinds facing the newspaper and magazine segments, company management made the strategic decision to change course. Packaging, particularly flexible packaging, was identified as a growth engine capable of offsetting the structural decline in print.

At the outset of this strategy in March 2014, when TC acquired its first flexible packaging company, François Olivier, TC's President and CEO at the time, stated that the deal was the first indication of the company’s new strategic plan to grow through diversification. He added that flexible packaging was a natural fit, given that the production process was similar to their current operations, which run roll-fed substrates, and the market offered growth opportunities.

By November 2017, the company had announced its fifth deal in the flexible packaging segment. Lest there be any lack of clarity as to the company’s strategic direction, Isabell Marcoux, Chair of the Board of TC, reiterated in the 2016 annual report that TC’s vision includes “transforming the organization to be a North American leader in flexible packaging.”

In our opinion, expressed at the time, the transformation of TC was possibly the best example of a planned, disciplined, articulate and well-executed strategy that utilized a company’s existing financial strength gained from its traditional foundation, in this case printing newspapers and magazines, to build out an entirely new expertise in a much more desirable (and likely sustainable over the long term) segment of the printing industry. (See The Target Report: Flexible Packaging is Hot – November 2017.)

By 2018, a visitor to TC Transcontinental’s website was greeted with the opening line, “TC Transcontinental is a leader in flexible packaging in North America …” That was a bold statement from a company that had managed to transform itself in just four years from primarily a publication and commercial printer, with no packaging experience, to become a powerhouse in the flexible packaging segment. Upon the acquisition of Coveris Americas, a billion-dollar flexible packaging printing company, the company reported that on a going-forward basis, packaging would represent 48% of the company’s revenue, more than any of the company’s traditional service segments, such as retail-related services (27%), Newspapers (7%), or magazines and books (7%). (See The Target Report: Getting Flexible in Your Middle Years - April 2018.)

When first announced, TC Transcontinental’s move into packaging was a bold bet, trading the certainty of a declining legacy business for the uncertainty of a highly competitive growth market in which valuations were soaring. In hindsight, it was prescient. Packaging did not merely replace lost print revenue; it reshaped the company’s narrative and stabilized its future. TC Transcontinental’s move remains a model for how a legacy graphic communications company can successfully reinvent itself.

From an M&A perspective, the company has remained laser-focused on implementing this strategy. Capital was redeployed. Acquisitions were made. Capabilities were built. Over time, TC Transcontinental Packaging became a credible, scaled player in its own right within the flexible packaging segment. That is, up to now.

December 2025 marks the second act in this story and, at first glance, perhaps the more challenging to understand. Having built a meaningful packaging business, TC Transcontinental chose to sell it. To casual observers, this might appear to be a retreat. In reality, it likely reflects a deeper strategic discipline: management believes the flexible packaging market is mature, the division has reached peak valuation, and there is little marginal benefit from additional scale.

The sale of TC Transcontinental Packaging to ProAmpac is not an abandonment of transformation, but its continuation. Having proven it could enter, scale, and professionalize a packaging platform, the company is now choosing to exit at a moment of strength, as evidenced by the multiple achieved. The majority of the capital unlocked by the sale of TCP is being distributed to the shareholders, with the balance retained and redirected toward retail services and educational publishing — areas where TC now believes its operational DNA, customer relationships, and risk tolerance are better aligned for the long term.

This is not diversification for its own sake. It is portfolio management at the corporate level, informed by a sober assessment of where durable value can be created. Isabell Marcoux, now Executive Chair of the Board, stated, “As we approach our 50th anniversary, TC Transcontinental is once again reinventing itself. We are excited to open a new chapter in our history, with a sharp focus on advancing the transformation of our Retail Services & Printing and Educational Publishing businesses.”

Transformation as a Continuous Process

What ties these two stories together is not packaging, nor private equity, nor even deal size. It is the recognition that transformation is no longer a one-time event. In earlier eras, companies reinvented themselves maybe every few generations, often under duress. Today, the pace of technological change, customer behavior, and capital market expectations demands a different approach. Companies that do not continually reassess their strategic transformation may find themselves in a systemic downward spiral, too late to make the necessary changes.

ProAmpac and TC Transcontinental, in very different ways, avoided that trap. ProAmpac did not stop evolving once it achieved scale; it adjusted its acquisition strategy as the market matured. TC Transcontinental did not cling to packaging simply because it had worked; it recognized when the risk-reward equation had shifted and acted accordingly.

What This Means for Owners and Executives

The December 2025 lesson may be uncomfortable for some, but it is clear to industry leaders. The question is no longer whether transformation is necessary, but whether leadership teams are prepared to undertake it repeatedly. The industry is littered with companies that successfully navigated one transition, from offset to digital, from print to packaging, from production to services, only to stall when the next inflection point arrived.

Together, these two interlocking stories illustrate how survival in the printing, packaging, and graphic communications industries increasingly depends not on scale alone, but on a willingness to repeatedly redefine strategic corporate direction, sometimes in what appears to be a radical change of mission. Transformation is no longer a chapter in the story. It is the story.
   
2025 December - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes
Press
Links
Stockton SentinelNo DataStockton, KSThe Plainville Times
(Prop. Main Street Media)		No DataPlainsville, KS12/26/25No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
JohnsByrne
(Port co. GHK Capital Partners)		No DataNiles, ILMunicipal PackagingNo DataChatsworth, CA12/22/25No DataAcquisitionFolding cartons & retail displaysLink
Minuteman Press, Lansing
(New franchisee)		No DataLansing, MIMinuteman Press, LansingNo DataLansing, MI12/19/25No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
The Vomela Companies
(Port co. The Riverside Company)		$377.0St. Paul, MNMoss
(Port co. EagleTree Capital)		$110.0Franklin Park, IL12/16/25No DataAcquisitionWide & grand format printingLink
MimeoNo DataMemphis, TNKnowledgePoint Print Services
(Div. KnowledgePoint)		No DataReading,
England		12/10/25No DataAcquisitionPrint & fulfillment servicesLink
Tara TPSNo DataSeoul, South KoreaChicago OffsetNo DataElk Grove Village12/10/25No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
ProAmpac
(Port co. Pritzker Partners)		No DataCincinnati, OHTC Transcontinental Packaging
(Div. TC Transcontinental)		$1,200Chicago, IL
(Montreal, QC)		12/8/25$1,510AcquisitionFlexible packagingLink
Sticker MuleNo DataAmsterdam, NYRockin MonkeyNo DataSan Antonio, TX12/8/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Sappi/UPM Joint VentureNo DataTBDGraphic Papers Assets
(Div. UPM-Kymmene)		No DataHelinski, Finland12/5/25$373Joint Venture4 Graphic paper mills
(Finland, Germany, Austria & NL)		Link
Sappi/UPM Joint VentureNo DataTBDGraphic Papers Assets
(Div. Sappi Limited)		No DataJohannesburg,
South Africa		12/5/25$1,281Joint Venture8 Graphic paper mills
(Finland, UK, Germany, & US)		Link
 Inovar Packaging Group
(Port co. Kelso & Company)		No DataDallas, TXEnterprise Marking ProductsNo DataFishers, IN12/1/25No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
 
  
2025 December - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Bottomline Ink, Corporation
dba Blink Marketing Logistics		12/31/25No Data25-32806Perrysburg, OH6thNorthern OH
Toledo		Mary Ann WhippleSteven L. DillerPrint management
 Sticky Wall Vinyl LLC12/21/25No Data25-08281Orlando, FL11thMiddle FL
Orlando		Lori V. VaughanL. Todd BudgenWide-format & décor
 Chapter 7 Filings:         
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc.12/22/25No Data25-10308Hunt Valley, MD4thMaryland
Baltimore		David E. RiceTBDConverted to Ch. 7 & from Ch 11
 Tricor Print Communications, Inc.
dba Tricor Brand Communications		12/19/25No Data25-34231Tigard, OR9thOregon
Portland		Peter C. McKittrickTimothy A. SolomonMarketing & commercial printing

   
2025 December - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Links
Pittsburgh City PaperDec-25No DataPittsburgh, PABlock CommunicationsToledo, OH12/31/25Community newspaperLink
Smyth - Label & flexible packaging plant
(Port co. Crestview Partners)		Jun-25No DataWilmington, MASymth CompaniesEagan, MN12/23/25Labels & flexible packagingLink
Quad - Printing plantMar-25No DataThe Rock, GAQuadSussex, WI12/22/25Long-run publication printingLink
McClain Printing Company1/22/26No DataParsons, WVNoneN/ADec-25Commercial printingLink
 Domtar - Crofton Mill12/15/25No DataCrofton, BCDomtarFort Mill, SC12/3/25Pulp mill, previously produced newsprintLink
↧

The Bloom Is Off the Rose – January 2026 M&A Activity

February 7, 2026, 8:30 pm
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Label Converters Enter a More Sober Phase

For much of the past decade and a half, discussions about mergers and acquisitions in the printing and packaging industries have been dominated by the steady drumbeat of label-printing deals, as often reported here in The Target Report. (See The Target Report: Duking it Out in the Label Business – February 2023). However, over the past several months, transactional activity in the label segment has slowed, and there have been rumblings that the overall label printing and converting businesses face increasing headwinds.

Those rumblings turned unmistakably loud on January 29th, when Multi-Color Corporation (“MCC”) filed for Chapter 11 protection under a prepackaged restructuring plan designed to slash its debt load, eliminate existing equity, and fundamentally reset its capital structure. Supported in advance (hence the “prepack”) by the majority of its senior lenders and its private equity sponsor, CD&R, the filing allows MCC to continue operating without disruption.

MCC’s importance to the industry and the impact of the bankruptcy filing cannot be overstated. As of the bankruptcy filing, the company operated in 25 countries, with over 90 facilities, of which 39 are in North America. The company employs 12,800 people worldwide, with 4,870 of those working here in the US. The parent company has 85 wholly owned subsidiaries and 56 related debtor entities that filed for bankruptcy concurrently with MCC.

The MCC bankruptcy filing is the clearest signal yet that the consolidation in the label printing and converting sector has entered a more mature, and far less forgiving, phase. For many in the label business, including other PE-backed label platform companies, a top contender in the contest for a high-multiple exit from ownership has been taken off the field, at least for the foreseeable future.

A History of Innovation

MCC traces its roots to 1916, when it was founded in Cincinnati as the Franklin Development Company. The founders were impressed by the latest innovations in printing technology, especially the new mechanized presses that enabled the three-color printing process (black was just being introduced as the fourth color at the time). As a consequence of their interest in the new machines, their initial business venture was to incorporate The Printing Machinery Company as a subsidiary. They quickly decided that the business of operating the presses, rather than competing with established press manufacturers, was a better option, and changed the name to Multicolor Type.

By 1918, the company was producing color paper labels. From the beginning, the company focused on big national brands that required consistent color and predictable quality. Early references to the company’s customers in the 1920’s include stalwart names such as Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, Campbell Soup, and Wrigley chewing gum.

From the humble beginnings in three-color printing, the company steadily evolved its technological prowess, investing heavily in rotogravure printing during the 1950s. Most notably, MCC played the instrumental role in the development of in-mold label technology, which was introduced to the market in 1980.

A Roll-Up of Roll-Ups

The current incarnation of MCC is the product of a steady drumbeat of acquisitions spanning nearly four decades. In 1985, the company acquired Georgia-Pacific's label-printing divisions, followed by an initial public offering two years later. The company focused on building its unique advantage in the in-mold label business, a limited market, while suffering declines in the much larger market for traditional labels. A substantial decline in business occurred when cigarette manufacturers brought packaging printing in-house, amidst the decline in smoking in the US. What followed for MCC was a precursor of today’s challenges as the company limped through the 1990s. There were years in which the company, which was public at the time, reported significant losses.

Beginning in late 1999, the company changed course and began an aggressive campaign of acquisitions and mergers to expand its market position and product offerings. With the acquisition of France-based Buriot International, MCC entered the market for pressure-sensitive labels, which was experiencing significant growth, driven by technological advancements in flexographic printing. Shortly thereafter, MCC acquired Uniflex Corporation, adding heat-shrink labels and tamper-evident bands to its product lineup.

In October 2011, just one month after the launch of The Target Report, MCC made its first appearance in this column and has appeared regularly in our deal logs and commentary ever since. In July 2017, the nature of the transactions changed dramatically in size and impact when MCC acquired the label division of Vienna, Austria-based Constantia Flexibles, itself the product of a concerted roll-up strategy. A year and a half later, Platinum Equity entered the picture and announced that it was taking MCC private in a transaction valued at $2.5 billion, ending MCC’s 32 years as a public company (See The Target Report: Platinum Equity Likes Print – February 2019). The transaction included the assumption of $1.5 billion of debt. When the deal closed later that year, Platinum Equity simultaneously merged MCC with WS Packaging, which it had acquired in 2018.

In July 2021, private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) hit a double, acquiring MCC from Platinum Equity simultaneously with the acquisition of PE-backed Fort Dearborn, one of MCC’s major competitors and itself the result of serial acquisitions (See The Target Report: Packaging Industry Consolidation in Every Direction – July 2021). While the terms of the CD&R transaction were not disclosed, it is a safe assumption that the multiple, layered transactions involved significant debt placed on the combined, and now truly global, organization. According to documents filed with the Bankruptcy Court, as of the filing date, the company’s aggregate outstanding principal amount of prepetition debt obligations stood at $5.9 billion.

The Prepack

In its bankruptcy filing, MCC’s Chief Restructuring Officer outlines a familiar but unforgiving sequence of events. Demand for labels surged as business activity resumed following the Covid shutdowns, colliding with material shortages, labor constraints, and rising input costs. Like many printing and packaging companies, MCC was slow to fully reprice its work to reflect this new cost structure. By prioritizing key customers and managing constrained capacity, the company ceded market share in parts of its business as conditions began to normalize.

The post-Covid demand surge proved temporary. As customers worked through excess inventories, volumes declined more sharply than expected, leaving MCC with a cost structure and capital burden built for a higher level of activity. Policy uncertainty surrounding tariffs further complicated planning and execution, particularly given the company’s global manufacturing footprint. These external pressures were compounded by internal integration challenges, including the absorption of the Fort Dearborn acquisition and subsequent add-on transactions, which proved more difficult and time-consuming than anticipated.

The financial impact was material. Revenue declined from $3.56 billion in 2022 to $3.06 billion in 2025, a decrease of 14%. Over the same period, EBITDA fell from $598 million to $409 million, compressing margins from 16.8% to 13.4%, a meaningful erosion for a business built on scale and predictability. With leverage amplifying the effects of softer demand and operational disruption, MCC elected last month not to make a $36.2 million interest payment, choosing to preserve liquidity and maintain uninterrupted operations.

The prepackaged restructuring plan submitted to the Court is designed to reduce net debt by approximately $3.9 billion, provide more than $550 million in liquidity at closing, lower annual debt service obligations by roughly $350 million, and extend maturities by seven years. Of critical importance to the company’s ongoing operations, and in contrast to many bankruptcies, general unsecured trade creditors will be paid in full, ensuring continuity of supply across MCC’s global manufacturing base.

The existing equity interests held by CD&R will be eliminated under the plan, though the sponsor has committed $889 million of new capital to support the restructuring, including $400 million in newly issued common equity. In practical terms, while the capital structure will be fundamentally reset, CD&R is likely to retain significant influence over the reorganized company, subject to final court approval.

From Growth Darling to Normalized Sector

To be clear, labels are not facing a collapse in demand. End markets remain intact, and the category retains many of the advantages that made it attractive for investment in the first place, including recurring revenue and consolidation opportunities. What we believe has changed is the market’s willingness to treat those advantages as justification for sky-high multiples supported by bleeding-edge leverage.

MCC’s bankruptcy filing, therefore, carries significance well beyond the failure of its own capital structure to survive a softening in the market. It challenges the idea that labels were somehow insulated from the forces now reshaping packaging markets more broadly. Rising interest rates and higher debt-servicing costs, softening consumer demand, and the limits of debt-fueled, acquisition-driven growth have converged, presumably sending a message to owners of all label-printing and converting businesses.

Implications for Independent Owners

For independent label converters, the current moment carries practical implications: sellers’ valuation expectations need to reset.

Many owners likely remain mentally and emotionally anchored to peak-cycle transactions from 2021 and 2022, when competitive auctions and cheap debt pushed label segment enterprise value multiples to historic highs. Owners of label printing companies seeking to sell over the past several years could look to several PE-backed platforms and be confident that buyers would line up to acquire their companies (See The Target Report: Private Equity Fuel$ Consolidation of Label Industry – September 2021).

Today’s buyers are benchmarking against a very different risk environment. Sellers who wait for yesterday’s market to return may face a long, potentially unrequited wait for the hot label-company market to reappear. The takeaway is that the exuberance has cooled, and sellers should expect a rigorous, rational process from buyers. Owners considering a transaction should expect more detailed operational reviews and more conservative deal structures. Expect earnouts, rollover equity, and other risk-mitigation deal structures as buyers seek to share risk and build resilience into their roll-ups.

MCC’s restructuring marks a symbolic turning point. It does not invalidate the label sector’s fundamental strengths, but it does underscore the limits of leverage, consolidation, and optimism when fundamentals soften. For owners of independent label printers, the message is not to panic, but rather to adjust expectations.
   
2026 January - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes
Press
Links
Crown Paper Group
(Port co. Atlas Holdings)		No DataPort Townsend, WARichmond, BC Packaging Plant
(Div. Cascades)		$4,790Kingsey Falls, QC1/29/26No DataAcquisitionCorrugated packagingLink
International Paper$23,630Memphis, TNEMEA Packaging$8,500TBD1/29/26No DataSpinoffPaper & paperboard millsLink
Lexington Area Chamber of CommerceNo DataLexington, MOThe Lexington News (+2 Titles)
(Prop. Main Street Media)		No DataLexington, MO1/28/26No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
CherryRoad MediaNo DataParsippany, NJThe Carrollton Democrat
(Prop. Main Street Media)		No DataCarrollton, MO1/28/26No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspaperLink
Allegra (Carol Stream)No DataCarol Stream, ILImage360No DataLombard, IL1/22/26No DataAcquisitionWide format & sign printingLink
Impact XM
(Port co The Riverside Company)		No DataDayton, NJJack MortonNo DataBoston, MA1/21/26No DataMergerExperiential & brand graphicsLink
Southeastern$45.0Hialeah, FLSunbelt Graphics/DimensionalNo DataSt. Davie, FL1/19/26No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Minuteman Press, BuffaloNo DataBuffalo, NYXOAR CommunicationsNo DataOrchard Park, NY1/16/26No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
ARCNo DataSan Ramon, CAColor ReflectionsNo DataHouston, TX1/15/26No DataAcquisitionWide-format printingLink
Butterfly EquityNo DataBeverly Hills, CAePac Flexible PackagingNo DataAustin, TX1/15/26No DataAcquisitionFlexible packagingLink
Forum CommunicationsNo DataFargo, NDSidney Herald (+5 Titles)
(Prop. Wicks Communications)		No DataSidney, MT1/14/26No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
CJK GroupNo DataBrainerd, MNWLX & Western Logistics ExpressNo DataKansas City, MO1/12/26No DataAcquisitionLogisticsLink
PPC Flex
(Port co GTCR)		No DataBuffalo Grove, ILSÜDPACK Operations (US)No DataOak Creek, WI1/12/26No DataAcquisition
(TKO Miller)		Flexible packagingLink
LBUNo DataPaterson, NJDonray PrintingNo DataParsippany, NJ1/9/26No DataAcquisitionOffset dye sublimation printingLink
Crisp ImagingNo DataCosta Mesa, CAPiedmont Directional SignsNo DataWoodinville, WA1/8/26No DataAcquisitionWide format & sign printingLink
Crisp ImagingNo DataCosta Mesa, CAA&I ReprographicsNo DataOntario, CA1/7/26No DataAcquisitionReprographics & wide formatLink
Keypoint Intelligence
(Port co. Atar Capital)		No DataFairfield, NJDataMaster OnlineNo DataRennes, France1/7/26No DataAcquisitionPrinter testing serviceLink
SupplyOne
(Port co. Revelar Capital)		No DataNewtown Square, PAWertheimer BoxNo DataMcCook, IL1/6/26No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxes & displaysLink
Sky-High MarketingNo DataWaukesha, WIMaple Avenue Printing & EmbroideryNo DataBig Bend, WI1/6/26No DataAcquisitionScreen printingLink
United Business MailNo DataMinneapolis, MNMystic Logistics
(Port co. Main Street Capital)		No DataGlastonbury, CT1/6/26No DataAcquisitionMarketing Mail LogisticsLink
 BolgerNo DataMinneapolis, MNAmerican Financial PrintingNo DataMinneapolis, MN1/2/26No DataAcquisitionTransactional printingLink


2026 January - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
Sun Color Corporation1/30/2626-60112North Canton, OH6thNorthern OH
Youngstown		Tiiara N.A. PattonSteven HeimbergerPrinting inks
 Multi-Color Corporation
(Port co. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice)		1/29/26 26-10910Atlanta, GA3rdNew Jersey
Trenton		Michael B. KaplanMichael D. SirotaLabel printing & converting
 Chapter 7 Filings:         
 No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------

   
2026 January - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Links
Washington Post - Printing plantJan-27No DataNorth Springfield, VAThe Washington PostWashington, D.C.1/29/26Newspaper printing plantLink
The Beach CompanyJan-26No DataCoshocton, OHNoneN/AJan-26Printed custom calendarsLink
Hersteller May Printing & Embroidery2/12/26No DataGraham, TXNoneN/AJan-26Wide format printing & embroideryLink
 The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(Prop. Block Communications)		May-26No Data Pittsburgh, PABlock CommunicationsToledo, OH1/7/26Newspaper ceasing publicationLink

↧

Private Equity Bets Big on Digital Billboards – February 2026 M&A Activity

March 7, 2026, 8:00 am
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From Poster Panels to Electronic Displays

For more than a century, the billboard business depended on printing. From hand-painted advertising murals to multi-sheet poster panels to vinyl prints, outdoor advertising and commercial printing evolved together. Today, that relationship is beginning to unravel.

When Clear Channel Outdoor agreed in February to be acquired by Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Capital and Chicago-based TWG Global in a $6.2 billion take-private transaction, the deal was widely framed as another step in the digital transformation of the out-of-home advertising business. The investor group highlighted Clear Channel’s network of roadside displays and airport signage as a platform for expanding electronic billboard infrastructure and data-driven advertising systems.

The combined funds’ interest in outdoor advertising is driven largely by the economics of electronic billboards. Once installed, a digital display can rotate multiple advertisements in rapid succession, dramatically increasing revenue per location while eliminating many of the logistical costs associated with traditional printed media. For operators such as Clear Channel, Lamar Advertising, and Outfront Media, converting static structures into LED billboards has become one of the industry’s primary growth strategies.

That transformation has been underway for two decades with the widespread introduction of LED displays. For the segment of the printing industry that supports outdoor advertisers, the implications are clear; every conversion of a billboard to digital technology replaces the many printed signs that would have been required over the coming years.

The Sign Painters

To understand the significance of this shift, it is worth recalling that billboard advertising itself has undergone several technological revolutions over the past century and a half.

In the early days of outdoor advertising, billboard graphics were not printed at all. Instead, they were hand-painted signs created by skilled artists who reproduced advertising imagery onto large wooden panels or painted directly onto the side of buildings. Sign painters often worked from small-scale illustrations, carefully enlarging the artwork across the billboard surface using grids or projection techniques.

Companies such as Foster & Kleiser, one of the pioneering billboard operators in the United States, helped popularize these early roadside displays, relying on teams of painters who traveled from city to city producing large advertising murals by hand. The company was the proving ground for several well-known muralists, artists, and illustrators. Most famously, the company’s artists hand-painted the iconic billboards on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, promoting rock-and-roll acts. (The company went through a series of name changes, sales, and acquisitions, and eventually disappeared into what is now Clear Channel Outdoor, the same aforementioned Clear Channel company.)

The 1889 Paris Exposition

In 1889, the French government sponsored the Exposition Universelle de 1889 in Paris to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. The fair showcased numerous technological innovations of the industrial age and introduced what would become the world’s tallest structure for more than four decades: Gustave Eiffel’s iron tower.

Poster Promoting Train to Paris Fair

Less well known, but possibly more impactful on today’s visual landscape, was the display of a large multi-sheet advertising poster at the fair by the Morgan Lithographic Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The billboard, originally composed of 24 separate printed paper sheets, formed a coherent large image when aligned and pasted together. The company, well known at the time for its colorful printed posters for the Ringling Brothers Circus, won the gold medal for its vibrant, saturated chromolithographic posters. These were produced by stone lithography, layering up to a dozen or more colors. The size of the stones limited the size of the sheet that could be printed, which led directly to the multi-sheet format for billboards.

No less important than the limitations of using stones in the printing process, the ease of transporting and installing manageable-sized sheets quickly led to the widespread use of multiple sheets to create large outdoor advertising. Eventually, the stone litho process gave way to large-format offset presses capable of producing sheets of the required size. Billboard poster sets were printed, trimmed with overlapping bleed, collated with numbered sequences, and packed for distribution. Installers, traditionally called “bill posters,” would climb ladders and scaffolds, glue and smooth the sheets to form a single billboard-size image.

Billboard Printing Becomes an Industrial Process

The introduction of mechanized large-format offset printing presses dramatically changed the process. By the early twentieth century, improvements in lithographic printing allowed billboard posters to be mass-produced on paper and assembled onto billboards in sections. This innovation enabled advertisers to distribute identical campaigns across multiple cities simultaneously, greatly expanding the reach of outdoor advertising.

Over time, the industry standardized the formats used for billboard posters. Smaller roadside displays typically used 8-sheet posters, while larger urban billboards relied on a 30-sheet format, printed in sections and assembled on site. These standardized formats allowed billboard operators to efficiently print and distribute advertising campaigns.

For most of the twentieth century, billboard advertising depended on these large-format printed posters produced in specialized printing plants and shipped nationwide for installation along highways and urban corridors. The production of these posters required some of the largest offset presses ever installed in commercial printing facilities, with sheet sizes up to 81 inches. A small group of printers developed the capability to manufacture these oversized graphics efficiently and became essential suppliers to the outdoor advertising industry.

Few companies embodied that business model better than Kubin-Nicholson of Milwaukee, whose oversized offset presses produced billboard panels that were shipped nationwide and pasted onto roadside structures. The company specialized in large-format graphics, including billboard sheet sets, transit advertising displays, and retail signage, and for decades served as a key supplier to the outdoor advertising industry. Its slogan, “Printers of the Humongous,” captured the essence of a company built around the oversized offset presses required to produce billboard posters and other large-format graphics.

For much of the twentieth century, this system worked remarkably well. The combination of large-scale printing and widespread billboard networks created a powerful national advertising medium. Printers such as Kubin-Nicholson played a crucial role in supporting that advertising system.

Wide-Format Printing Enters the Picture

The poster system that sustained billboard printing for most of the twentieth century began to erode long before the arrival of digital billboards. In practice, the decline of billboard poster printing had already begun decades earlier. Beginning in the late 1980s and accelerating through the 1990s, outdoor advertising companies increasingly replaced multi-sheet paper posters with large, printed vinyl “skins” stretched across billboard frames. Produced using screen printing and later wide-format inkjet printers, these skins eliminated the traditional thirty-sheet poster arrays that had long been printed on oversized offset presses. Installation became faster, the graphics were more durable, and the seams that once defined panelized posters disappeared.

For specialized printers that had built their businesses around billboard posters, the shift to vinyl skins marked the beginning of a steady decline in demand for large-format offset printing. Companies that specialized in offset sheets began investing in wide-format printing machines, including Kubin-Nicholson. However, as wide-format technology was deployed throughout the printing industry and many new entrants specialized in wide-format printing, supplying billboard graphics was no longer the tightly defined niche it once was. The capabilities and expensive capital equipment required to print, cut, and properly distribute printed paper sheet sets were no longer needed.

Kubin-Nicholson Shuts Down

Earlier this year, a chapter in the billboard story came to an end. Kubin-Nicholson ceased operations, and the company’s printing presses and finishing equipment were sold at auction. Among the equipment offered were oversized sheetfed offset presses and wide-format inkjet printing systems used to print billboard campaigns. The closure of Kubin-Nicholson represents more than the disappearance of a single printing company. It marks another step in the dismantling of the unique segment of the printing industry that once supported billboard poster production in North America.

When the Poster Is No Longer Needed

The technologies that once drove and enabled demand for billboard printing are giving way to a new system in which billboards are no longer printed at all. The transition will not happen overnight. Thousands of traditional billboards remain in operation across the United States, and printed posters will continue to be used in many markets for years to come. Poster panels still number in the tens of thousands across the United States, but those that remain use wide-format printed graphics rather than the traditional thirty-sheet paper posters once produced on large offset presses. The direction of the industry leaders is increasingly clear. As digital displays expand, the demand for printed billboard graphics of any type will continue to decline.

For the dedicated printing plants that once produced the massive poster arrays for the billboard industry, the transition from paper posters to vinyl skins and now to digital displays marks the quiet end of a manufacturing niche that once covered America’s highways with printed images.

Market Footnote
We have positioned the closure of Kubin-Nicholson in this Target Report within the context of the long-term changes in the large-sheet-size offset market due to the emergence and mass deployment of wide-format inkjet printers, and then further exacerbated by the increasing number of installed digital displays. These are among the underlying industry trends that likely contributed to this company’s decline and eventual closure. However, the final chapter of Kubin-Nicholson is more complicated. Before its closure, the company had been acquired by Marketing.com, the printing roll-up that has recently been unwinding through bankruptcy filings and a series of plant closures and equipment auctions. (See The Target Report: New Consolidator Emerges – November 2025). Recent auctions and closures in the Marketing.com family of companies, in addition to Kubin-Nicholson in Wisconsin (auction date 02-24-26), include a series of major equipment liquidations such as Knepper Press in Pennsylvania (04-16-26), Stratis Visuals in Connecticut (04-07-26), Color Art in Missouri (03-19-26), Las Vegas Color Graphics in Nevada (03-17-26), Action Printing in Wisconsin (02-26-26), Mossberg & Company in Indiana (02-19-26), HBP in Maryland (02-17-26), Brant InStore Printing in Ontario (06-25-25) and Fisher Group in Iowa (03-12-25).
   
2026 February - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes
Press
Links
Wortman PrintingNo DataEffingham, ILRose Printing & CopiesNo DataCentralia, IL2/20/26No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Shamrock CompaniesNo DataWestlake, OHProServ Business ProductsNo DataTulsa, OK2/20/26No DataAcquisition
(Corp Dev Assoc)		Print & promo distributorLink
SupremeX$195.3Lasalle, QCElite Envelope & GraphicsNo DataRandolph, MA2/19/26No DataAcquisition
(Highland Advisory)		Envelope manufacturerLink
Times Media GroupNo DataTempe, AZMoser Community Media
(32 titles)		No DataBrenham, TX2/18/26No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Allegra Marketing Print Mail
(New franchisee)		No DataJackson, TNAllegra Marketing Print MailNo DataJackson, TN2/18/26No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Inovar Packaging Group
(Port co. Kelso & Company)		No DataDallas, TXKiliper CorporationNo DataAmes, IA2/13/26No DataAcquisitionStretch sleeves, labels & filmsLink
Viella Brand CommunicationsNo DataSpokane, WASpokane Valley Screen PrintingNo DataSpokane Valley, WA2/12/26No DataAcquisitionScreen printingLink
NovaVision
(Port co. Incline Equity Partners)		No DataBowling Green, OHGraphic CommunicationsNo DataWarminster, PA2/12/26No DataAcquisitionLabel printingLink
Gazette News GroupNo DataSchenectady, NYAdirondack Daily Enterprise
(Prop. Ogden Newspapers)		No DataSaranac Lake, NY2/11/26No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspapersLink
Proforma$662.0Independence, OHSafeguard Business Systems
(Div. Deluxe)		$180.0Carrollton, TX2/11/26$25.0AcquisitionPrint distributor systemLink
Duggal Visual Solutions$143.0New York, NYCSI Printing & GraphicsNo DataAlexandria, VA2/11/26No DataAcquisitionWide-format printingLink
Kingswood Capital ManagementNo DataLos Angeles, CAParagon Print & Packaging
(Business paper div. of Coveris)		$315.0Boston, UK2/10/26No DataCarve-OutLabel, cartons & traysLink
Direct Marketing Solutions
(Port co. Main Street Capital)		No DataPortland, ORJohnson & Quin$32.6Niles, IL2/10/26No DataAcquisitionDirect mail printingLink
Mubadala Capital &
TWG Global		No DataAbu Dhabi
Chicago, IL		Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings$1,600San Antonio, TX2/9/26$6,200AcquisitionOutdoor advertisingLink
LM PackagingNo DataSt-François, QCCascades Enviropac
(Div. Cascades)		No DataBerthierville, QC2/6/26No DataAsset AcquisitionHoneycomb packagingLink
Brother Industries$5,600Nagoya, JapanMutoh Holdings$113.0Setagaya, Japan2/4/26$233.0AcquisitionWide-format printersLink
 Millcraft PaperNo DataCleveland, OHSteen-Macek PaperNo DataGreen Bay, WI2/3/26No DataAcquisitionPaper distributionLink

 
2026 February - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
P&Y T-Shirts & Silk Screening Co Inc
(dba American Printworks)		2/22/26No Data26-11613Vernon, CA9thCentral CA
Deborah J. SaltzmanStella A. HavkinScreen printing apparel
Lithotype Co. Inc.2/6/26No Data26-02207Bolingbrook, IL7thNorthern IL
Chicago		Daniel R. FineScott R. ClarFlexible packaging
 Golden Image Graphics Inc.2/1/26No Data26-70454Bellport, NY2ndEastern NY
Central Islip		Sheryl P. GiuglianoRichard S FeinsilverCommercial printing
  Chapter 7 Filings:         
 No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------


2026 February - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Links
Acuity Finishing3/25/26No DataCranberry, NJNoneN/AFeb-26Bindery servicesLink
 Kubin-NicholsonFeb-26No DataMilwaukee, WIMarketing.comEureka, MOFeb-26Large format offset & wide-format printingLink
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What in the World is Schutzschirmverfahren? – March 2026 M&A Activity

April 8, 2026, 6:43 pm
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Schutzschirmverfahren (shu̇ts-ˌshir-m fər-ˈfä-rən): a German word literally translated as “Protective Shield Proceedings,” but in practical terms, it is the German equivalent of a self-administered, court-supervised proceeding under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

Exit, Consolidate, or Invest

Despite the recent spate of numerous plant closures and total plant auctions, we do not see evidence of widespread company failures in the printing industry. Rather, recent transactional activity suggests something more structural at work. The industry is not collapsing; it continues to be sorted out by market forces as the demand for printed products changes.

Three distinct pathways are emerging: excess capacity is being wrung out of the system via company and plant closures, often outside formal restructuring processes; core mature print markets are continuously consolidating through many, sometimes small, local transactions; and capital continues to flow toward the growth segments, in particular packaging and digital print technologies, albeit at a much slower pace than in previous years. Together, these dynamics are reshaping the printing and packaging industry from the inside out.

Wrung Out - Manroland Sheetfed Files Bankruptcy

One of the most highly respected manufacturers of printing equipment, Manroland Sheetfed, entered into bankruptcy proceedings in Germany under that country’s Insolvency Code, which provides the option for management to retain control of the company while restructuring, rather than being replaced by a court-appointed administrator.

The Manroland press line traces its origin back to 1844 in Augsburg, Germany, and has been associated with many innovations throughout its long history. The company initially focused on producing steam engines, but within a couple of decades had expanded into manufacturing printing presses. In 1875, the company introduced the Albatross Press, which produced up to 700 sheets per hour, a very productive rate for a sheetfed press (“Albatross” clearly had a different, more positive connotation at the time). The company came into its own in 1911 with the introduction of its first sheetfed offset press. Another milestone was achieved in 1951 when the company introduced the 4-color sheetfed Ultra press at Drupa, revolutionary at the time for its “planetary cylinder” design, which enabled full-color printing in one pass through the press.

The company progressed over the following decades with a convoluted series of mergers. The 1979 merger with the MAN Group brought web press production into the company. To gain entry into the US market, the company marketed its presses under the brand name Miele-Roland, piggybacking on the reputation of Miele presses.

Manroland, with both sheetfed and web press manufacturing under its belt, churned through several ownership structures: corporate enterprise, foreign, and private equity. Following its first insolvency filing in 2012, the company emerged from that restructuring as two separate entities, Manroland Sheetfed, embracing sheetfed technology, under the umbrella of UK-based Langley Holdings. The legacy web press business was purchased by Possehl Group, a German industrial conglomerate, eventually merging it with Goss International to form Manroland Goss. (See The Target Report: Press Onward! - March 2018).

We may be seeing the end of the sheetfed branch of the Manroland family of printing presses. The CEO of Langley Holdings was quoted in the company’s review as saying, “The situation at Manroland Sheetfed is unsustainable.” The company’s restructuring expert noted that they “will have to implement drastic and far-reaching measures” and that it “is regrettable that a great many jobs will be lost.” Over the past couple of decades, much of the packaging market has shifted to Koenig & Bauer (KBA) for its very-large-format offset presses. Komori has made significant inroads into the commercial market for high-speed automated offset presses. Heidelberg has held its ground in both the commercial and packaging markets. Given these market trends, we will not be surprised if Manroland Sheetfed exits the manufacture of printing presses and is consigned to simply servicing its legacy of installed machines.

Consolidation as the Default Path

The most visible activity in March was the steady cadence of small and mid-sized acquisitions across commercial printing. These were not transformative platform deals or private equity-backed roll-ups. Instead, they were overwhelmingly local, strategic tuck-ins, transactions driven by geography, customer overlap, and operational efficiency.

BP Print Group’s acquisition of PrintFast Marketing Solutions in New Jersey, Andrick & Associates’ tuck-in of Target Graphics in Florida, and PackEdge’s purchase of Keno Graphics in Connecticut, all follow a similar pattern: buyers and sellers operating in the same regional markets, combining to improve utilization and retain customer relationships. At the lower end of the market, consolidation via tuck-in transactions provides owners with a graceful exit path as the commercial printing industry volume slowly declines.

Franchise and network operators continue to play an important role in this consolidation dynamic. The Minuteman Press in Kalamazoo, Michigan, acquired local company JB Printing. In Iowa, the North Liberty franchise purchased Goodfellow Printing. The Allegra Marketing Print Mail franchise in Baltimore expanded its footprint by acquiring the Image360 franchise location in downtown Baltimore. These transactions demonstrate how franchise organizations now act as aggregation vehicles for many smaller, independent printers. The franchisors’ model: local ownership combined with broader branding and operational support, positions the franchise systems to absorb sub-scale competitors and attract entrepreneurial entrants into the printing industry.

Notably absent from the month’s activity were large-scale commercial print platform acquisitions. There were no multi-state roll-ups and no significant private equity entries into traditional print. The lack of headline transactions suggests that growth expectations are not driving consolidation, but rather that consolidation is occurring by necessity. For many operators, acquisition is less about expansion and more about survival: adding volume, improving equipment utilization, and maintaining relevance in increasingly competitive local markets while at the same time removing a competitor from the playing field. In the current market, consolidation is happening at the edges, not on a large scale, at least not yet.

Investment Flows Toward Packaging and Technology

In contrast to the fragmented and largely local nature of commercial print M&A, capital deployment in packaging and enabling technologies continues to occur at scale and with strategic intent. Altamont Capital Partners’ investment in Key Container Corporation reflects ongoing private equity interest in corrugated packaging, despite reports that demand for corrugated boxes has declined following a systemic reset after the post-Covid period, as well as online retailers shifting to paper bags and envelopes as more cost-effective carriers.

Similarly, CCL Industries’ $113 million (USD) acquisition of Sleever International underscores the strategic, long-term value of packaging companies, in this case, shrink-sleeve production. Consistent with the deal discipline that CCL has shown in the past, the multiple paid was 6.4x adjusted EBITDA. (See The Target Report: CCL Industries Breaks the Rules – January 2022). This multiple is not only a sign of CCL’s approach but moreover is indicative of the cooling off of the red-hot market for packaging companies, even allowing that shrink sleeves were not as hot as labels and flexible packaging. Even more striking among the deal metrics revealed was that net tangible assets are expected to represent 90% of the purchase price, leaving just 10% to be allocated to goodwill.

An Industry Being Sorted

Taken together, the March data does not portray an industry in crisis, nor is it indicative of a booming business for print and packaging companies. It describes an industry being sorted. Three pathways are becoming increasingly distinct. As is the case with many of the closures noted in our deal log, and as may be the case with Manroland Sheetfed, when the headwinds are too strong, some fold up their tent and close up shop. Consolidation is reshaping core print markets as local operators combine to remain viable, with the survivors absorbing work from exiting companies. And finally, investment is still flowing into packaging, labels, and digital print technologies, the industry segments aligned with growth, and attracting capital.
   
2026 March - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries

Deal Party #1
(Surviving Entity)		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #1 Address

Deal Party #2		Pre-Deal
Revenue
(US$Mil)

Party #2 Address		Date
Deal
Public		Deal
Value
(US$Mil)
Deal Structure
(Intermediary)

Notes
Press
Links
BP Print GroupNo DataLakewood, NJPrintFast Marketing SolutionsNo DataMiddlesex, NJ3/31/26No DataAcquisition
(Graphic Arts Advisors)		Commercial print & marketingLink
Paxton Media GroupNo DataPaducah, KYThe Franklin Press (+8 titles)
(Prop. Community Newspapers)		No DataAthens, GA3/31/26No DataAcquisition
(Dirks, Van Essen)		Community newspapersLink
Allegra Marketing Print MailNo DataBaltimore, MDImage360 Baltimore DowntownNo DataBaltimore, MD3/31/26No DataAcquisitionWide-format & signageLink
Andrick & AssociatesNo DataSarasota, FLTarget GraphicsNo DataSarasota, FL3/30/26No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
PackEdgeNo DataHamden, CTKeno GraphicsNo DataShelton, CT3/26/26No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Minuteman Press KalamazooNo DataKalamazoo, MIJB PrintingNo DataKalamazoo, MI3/25/26No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Graphco Mngt TeamNo DataCleveland, OHGraphcoNo DataCleveland, OH3/24/26No DataAcquisitionEquipment distributorLink
Michigan Independent Media GroupNo DataGrand Rapids, MITri-City TimesNo DataImlay, MI3/23/26No DataAcquisitionCommunity newspaperLink
Continuum
(Div. CJK Group)		No DataBrainerd, MNTeldonNo DataRichmond, BC3/23/26No DataAcquisitionSpecialty printed productsLink
CCL Industries$7,660Toronto, ONSleever International$158.7Paris, France3/13/26$112.5AcquisitionShrink sleeve labelsLink
Brand Boost PrintsNo DataSpokane Valley, WALithograph ReproductionsNo DataSpokane Valley, WA3/12/26No DataAcquisitionCommercial printingLink
Global Printing and PackagingNo DataMarlborough, MARocketbookNo DataLee, MA3/10/26No DataAcquisitionNotebooksLink
AlphaGraphics North LibertyNo DataNorth Liberty, IAGoodfellow PrintingNo DataIowa City, IA3/9/26No DataAcquisitionPrinting & copyingLink
Altamont Capital PartnersNo DataPalo Alto, CAKey ContainerNo DataPawtucket, RI3/9/26No DataAcquisitionCorrugated boxes & displaysLink
 Pillsman Partners &
Peninsula Partners		No DataGreenwich, CT
Detroit, MI		PrintwareNo DataEagan, MN3/3/26No DataAcquisitionInkjet pressesLink

   
2026 March - Bankruptcy Filings in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Filing Party
Date
Case
Filed		Pre-Petition
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Case #


Filing Party Address


Circuit


Region & City


Judge


Attorney for Debtor


Notes
Chapter 11 Filings:
More Than A Printer Inc.3/13/26No Data26-30664Louisville, KYWestern KY
Louisville		Joan A. LloydMichael W. McClainCommercial printing
  Chapter 7 Filings:         
 No Chapter 7 Filings Found this Month---------------------------
  Germany Insolvency Proceeding:         
 Manroland - Sheetfed Division
(Sub. Langley Holdings)		3/3/26$300.0N/AOffenbach am Main,
Germany		N/AN/AN/AN/APrinting press manufacturing

   
2026 March - Non-Bankruptcy Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries



Closed Company / Facility
Date of Closure		Pre-Closure
Revenue
(US$Mil)


Closing Address		Related PartyRelated Party
Address		Date Closure Public


Notes
Press
Links
Ace Lithographers of Morris County
(dba Ace Twill)		4/30/26No DataBerkeley Heights, NJNoneN/AMar-26Commercial printing
(Merger with Associates International)		Link
BR Printers - Book printing plant6/26/26No DataCincinnati, OHBR PrintersSan Jose, CA3/27/26Book printing & manufacturingLink
King Printing3/15/26No DataNew Tazewell, TNNoneN/A3/27/26Commercial printingLink
QC Direct Mail2/28/26No DataMarietta, GANoneN/A3/9/26Mailing services & digital printingEmail
Notice
Lifetouch - Printing facility
(Div. Shutterfly)		10/30/26No DataGalion, OHLifetouchRedwood City, CA3/5/26Photobooks and specialty products.Link
 Star Litho4/30/26No DataWeymouth, MANoneN/A3/5/26Commercial printingLink

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