Private equity firm The Carlyle Group put The Relizon Company, Dayton, Ohio, up for sale, according to a story in The Deal. Relizon was formed in August 2000 when The Carlyle Group bought the Information Solutions Group of the Reynolds and Reynolds Company for about $360 million. Joe Lipscomb, a managing director of Carlyle Group who represented Carlyle on Relizon's board of directors, left Carlyle earlier this year, according to the company. A Carlyle spokesman says the firm does not comment on potential sales.

"I think this is going to be good news and bad news for the independent segment, depending on who ends up with Relizon," says Jim Anderson, president of Corporate Development Associates, a Scottsdale, Ariz., intermediary firm specializing in the forms industry. "If a strategic buyer [such as R.R. Donnelley, Corporate Express or Standard Register] buys Relizon, that would not be good news for trade manufacturers that do business with Relizon." Relizon historically has outsourced more business than any other major, Anderson says, and if the outsourcing ends, the future of some trade manufacturers could be in jeopardy.

On the other hand, Anderson says, distributors should be "absolutely jubilant" about the news. When potential clients question whether distributors' firms are big enough to work with, distributors can point out that Relizon's future is uncertain, he suggests. There could be another benefit, too. Typically, when there is turmoil at a large company, such as a merger or an acquisition, salespeople migrate to the independent segment. "This is a great opportunity for the independent distributor to keep their eyes open for Relizon reps," Anderson says.

Furthermore, the potential sale of Relizon could cause uncertainty in the medical market. Relizon has several contracts with group purchasing organizations, and Novation issued Relizon a contract effective Jan. 1. Two distributor organizations—American Solutions for Business and International Business Solutions Alliance—also received contracts with Novation. It's too early to tell who potential buyers for Relizon might be. Anderson says the company's future could rest with "someone outside the box." He adds, "I wouldn't be surprised if someone like DHL would come out of the woodwork in response to FedEx buying Kinko's and UPS buying Mail Boxes, Etc."

Carlyle Group is one of the largest private equity firms in the world with more than $25 billion under its management, according to its web site. Relizon's revenues are approaching $1 billion, and the company employs 5,100 people, according to Carlyle. Relizon includes Wilmer, a Dayton, Ohio, independent manufacturer. Previously, Carlyle had expanded Relizon's business communications capabilities with the 2001 acquisition of Epsilon, a marketing solutions provider. Epsilon was sold in 2004 to Alliance Data Systems.

Burton Capital Management Increases Cenveo Ownership

Burton Capital Management LLC, Greenwich, Conn., and other members of its group filed last month an amendment to its Schedule 13D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings reflect the group's increased ownership of Englewood, Colo.-based Cenveo Inc., from 9.6 percent to approximately 10.8 percent of the outstanding common stock, according to the company's web site.

The move came after Cenveo's board of directors responded to a letter from Burton Capital Management, a stockholder in Cenveo. In the letter, Robert G. Burton Sr., chairman, CEO and managing member of Burton Capital Management, said, "We are very concerned about the current state of Cenveo, and believe that significant changes are required to put the company on the right track in order to create shareholder value." In its response, Cenveo's board said, "While we disagree with virtually all of the assertions made in your letter, we agree that the stock of Cenveo has been significantly undervalued by the market at large."

Burton was the chairman, president and CEO of Moore Corporation Ltd. through December 2002. According to the company web site, Burton generated an annual internal rate of return of 139 percent during his tenure at Moore (now part of R.R. Donnelley). Previously, he was chairman, president and CEO of World Color Press Inc., where he led its merger with Quebecor Printing Inc.

Quality Resource Group, Professional Business Products Merge

Quality Resource Group Inc., Hamel, Minn., announced that Professional Business Products, Lincoln, Neb., has merged with it. Professional Business Products will begin using software used by Quality Resource Group, the company said. Purchase orders will have a new format along with the name Quality Resource Group.

Study: RFID Increases Retail Productivity

Item-level RFID technology used in managing retail inventory delivered an eight-fold increase in employee productivity, streamlined inventory management systems, reduced out-of-stocks by nearly 60 percent and significantly reduced shrinkage, according to a study. Intelligent Systems, Aliso Viejo, Calif., a division of Stamford, Conn.-based MeadWestvaco Corp., and R4 Global Solutions™, San Francisco, announced the findings.