Kodak, Goss to Acquire Heidelberg Divisions
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., announced plans to acquire two lines of business from Heidelberg. Goss International Corp., Bolingbrook, Ill., will acquire Heidelberg's web offset division.
Kodak will purchase Heidelberg's 50 percent interest in NexPress Solutions LLC, a 50/50 joint venture of Kodak and Heidelberg that makes digital color printing systems. Kodak also will purchase the equity of Heidelberg Digital LLC, a leading maker of digital, black-and-white printing systems. In addition, Kodak will acquire NexPress GmbH, Heidelberg's German subsidiary, and certain inventory and assets held by Heidelberg's regional operations, as well as offer employment to sales and service employees currently with Heidelberg's market centers. Earlier this year, Kodak completed its purchase of Scitex Digital Printing, which offers high-speed, variable-data ink jet printing, and renamed the company Kodak Versamark Inc.
Goss International and Heidelberg reached an agreement on the transfer of Heidelberg's web offset press business to Goss. The transaction is expected to include Heidelberg's commercial web and newspaper press activities, as well as its U.S. web finishing business. (Heidelberg USA Inc. is based in Kennesaw, Ga.) Heidelberg will become a shareholder in Goss International, holding nearly 20 percent of the company's shares.
RR Donnelley, Moore Wallace Complete Combination
Chicago-based commercial printer RR Donnelley and New York-based manufacturer Moore Wallace completed their combination. The new RR Donnelley is now the largest printing company in North America.
RR Donnelley changed its trading symbol from DNY to RRD. Shares of RR Donnelley began trading on the New York, Toronto and Chicago Stock Exchanges and the Pacific Stock Exchange under RRD on March 1. The trading of Moore Wallace common stock was suspended before the opening of the market on March 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, and before the opening of the market on March 2 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Under the terms of the previously announced agreement, all outstanding shares of Moore Wallace common stock will be exchanged for shares of RR Donnelley common stock based on a fixed exchange ratio of 0.63 of an RR Donnelley share for each Moore Wallace share.
"With the combination now complete, we will focus on building the RR Donnelley of the future," said Mark A. Angelson, chief executive officer of RR Donnelley. "There will be virtually no printing solution a company could require that we cannot meet by drawing on our exceptional premedia resources, production capabilities, logistics resources and information technology systems."
Relizon Wins Bank, Health Care Contracts
The Relizon Company, a manufacturer based in Dayton, Ohio, signed a deal worth an estimated $90 million over the next five years with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). Under the contract, Relizon will provide CIBC with document management solutions and marketing fulfillment services for CIBC's banking network in North America.
Relizon also won more than $30 million in new, multiyear document management contracts from health care networks such as CHRISTUS Health, University Hospital Health System and Mariner Post-Acute Network, as well as individual providers such as Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas. Relizon also announced the formation of a strategic health care business group responsible for better serving the requirements of current and potential health care provider companies.
Prograde to Acquire Acuity Marketing and Design
Prograde Inc., a distributorship in Cincinnati, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Acuity Marketing and Design, a Cincinnati-based marketing communications firm. Acuity provides marketing solutions to clients in the financial, distribution and manufacturing industries. The agreement will combine Prograde's online print ordering expertise and Acuity's marketing expertise to deliver web-based print solutions to clients nationwide. Acuity's associates now are Prograde employees. Terms of agreement weren't disclosed.
Pitman Company, Northeast Graphic Supply Merge
Pitman Company, a graphic arts industry supplier in Totowa, N.J., merged with its New England branch operations with Northeast Graphic Supply, a regional distribution company based in Portland, Maine. Northeast Graphic Supply customers now are served by Pitman's Taunton, Mass., branch. The merger is the second announced recently by Pitman. In January, Litho Company Inc., Monrovia, Calif., merged with the firm's Los Angeles operations.
Mail-Well Ranks Second On Fortune List
Mail-Well Inc., a manufacturer based in Englewood, Colo., ranked second in Fortune magazine's "Most Admired Companies" list in the Printing and Publishing category. (RR Donnelley ranked first.) The magazine's March issue published the list based on companies' innovation, employee talent, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investments and quality of products and services.
