Visant Corp.

Visant Closes Manufacturing Facilities as Part of Consolidation Effort
July 11, 2008

Armonk, N.Y.-based Visant Corp. announced that it will permanently close its manufacturing facilities in Pennsauken, N.J., as part of its effort to consolidate its book cover and component manufacturing operations. Manufacturing will continue at the company’s Milwaukee, Wis.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Rockaway, N.J., plants. The Pennsauken plant was one of the manufacturing locations for the Visant company Lehigh, a book component and overhead transparency manufacturer. While Visant’s Milwaukee plant also produces Lehigh products, it is unclear whether the closing of the Pennsauken facility will bring an end to the Lehigh brand. Paul Carousso, Visant’s vice president of finance, says that the company has “not

Visant to Consolidate Manufacturing Operations
June 30, 2008

ARMONK, NEW YORK, June 25, 2008 — Visant Corp. today announced the decision to consolidate its book cover and component manufacturing operations. As a result of the decision, the company will permanently close its operations at its Pennsauken, New Jersey manufacturing facilities and consolidate operations into its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hagerstown, Maryland and Rockaway, New Jersey facilities later this year.

Visant Corp. and Phoenix Color Corp. Enter into Merger Agreement
February 15, 2008

Visant Corp. and Phoenix Color Corp. announced that they have signed a definitive agreement and plan of merger. Following the proposed merger, Phoenix Color—a book-component manufacturer serving primarily the trade, professional reference and education segments—will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Visant, a marketing and publishing services enterprise. The deal is anticipated to close by the end of the first calendar quarter of this year. The total purchase consideration, subject to post-closing conditions, is $219 million. Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Phoenix Color in the transaction. “We are very excited at the prospect of having Phoenix Color join the Visant Publishing

Top 30 Book Manufacturers
June 1, 2007

If 2007 goes down as “The Year of RR Donnelley,” it will do so as a result of a 65-day span at the turn of the year during which the conglomerate announced it would acquire three industry stalwarts: Perry Judd’s, Von Hoffman and Banta Corp. But the past year has been about more than consolidation and leveraged buyouts. North American printers continue to grapple with the mounting menace that is offshore manufacturing, fluctuating paper prices amid a series of mill shutdowns, and the ever-evolving technological demands of their customers. And yet, despite these challenges, there are also a number of opportunities facing the market.

How Will RR Donnelley’s Recent Acquisitions Affect Book Publishers?
January 5, 2007

Whether it’s an example of survival of the fittest for printers or merely another entry in a long line of acquisitions, RR Donnelley & Sons put the publishing industry on notice as it completed its “trilogy of transactions” this week, a course of action the industry’s top commercial printer says will help offer its customers greater capacity and flexibility. The Chicago-based printer announced it would make an all-cash purchase of educational-book printer Von Hoffmann from Visant Corp., in a deal valued at $412.5 million, RR Donnelley officials said Wednesday. “In concert with our fully integrated international production platform, the addition of Von Hoffmann’s facilities will offer

Top 30 Book Manufacturers
June 1, 2006

For the second consecutive year, Visant Corp. nailed down the top spot in Book Business’ Top 30 Book Manufacturers List (p. 41)—ranked by 2005 book manufacturing revenue—in what was certainly an up-and-down year for many book printers. The book manufacturing landscape continues to change, with paper prices on the rise while availability declines. Publishers are being more vigilant than ever in controlling their costs, while Asia’s impact on the market increases each year. In its annual look at the state of the industry, Book Business sought insights from executives at four of the companies on the list—four companies, it is worth noting, that posted

El-Hi and Trade Fuel Optimism Among Manufacturers
June 1, 2005

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

Books That Beg for Attention
February 1, 2005

Competition in the book market is often fierce, and many book designers opt for foil, metallic, UV coating, or new or unusual substrates to set their titles apart and attract consumers. The challenges in committing to such innovative techniques are often difficulty, cost and production deadlines—using alternative materials can be more expensive, more complex to produce and more time-consuming. What it often comes down to is: Will the potential added time and expense translate into additional sales for this specific title? Some considerations publishers have to weigh before adding extras are the prestige of the author or project, the quality of the project

Offshoring and the Global Marketplace
October 1, 2004

Offshoring has taken on new meaning in recent years. The Web, electronic file transfer, advancements in foreign technology and faster, better ways to communicate globally have all stirred the waters of opportunity for tapping the American marketplace from overseas. A global marketplace has swelled beyond what many expected. For some, this means greater opportunity, savings and growth. For others, it means the promise of more jobless Americans, more abandoned factories, more unfair labor competition. For many book publishers, specifically, it means more options for manufacturing books cost-effectively. It means new options for digital content creation, design and editorial. It means increased profitability, growth

Do Cover Enhancements Enhance Profits?
August 1, 2004

Consumer spending on books will reach $44 billion by 2008, and publishers will be serving up a menu of more than 2.3 billion books from which readers can choose, predicts a recent study by the Book Industry Study Group, a nonprofit industry organization. With so many titles vying for a piece of the pie, each book's cover becomes increasingly important to catch the book-buyer's eye, despite the old caveat about judging a book by its cover. But does pomp and circumstance help sell books? Beauty Is Only Cover Deep, But It's The Cover That Buyers See Many in the industry agree that a