Printing Consolidation Company (PCC), a portfolio company of Blackford Capital, has acquired Kingsport Book, a book finishing and fulfillment company.
Kingsport Book is a high-end book finishing and fulfillment company which specializes in deluxe, trade, and soft cover books at quantities ranging from one to a million. The company has a 120,000 square foot facility in Church Hill, TN. Fred Cooper, CEO of Kingsport Book, and CFO Rick Jennings will stay on to lead operations at Kingsport Book under PCC ownership.
“I am thrilled to expand and formalize, the longstanding relationship between Dickinson and Kingsport. I know our clients will benefit more now that we have a fully integrated company that plans to continue to grow and add new solutions,” said Mr. Cooper.
Kingsport Book is the second company in the book printing industry to be acquired by PCC. In August 2015 it acquired Dickinson Press, a book manufacturer and printing services provider.
Dickinson Press offers a variety of book production capabilities including sheet-fed lithographic printing, heat-set web lithographic printing, and digital printing. The company also offers warehouse and fulfillment services. The company produces various books and printed materials such as Bibles, dictionaries, reference books, children’s books, and a variety of other printed literature for the religious, business, and education markets. Dickinson was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI (www.dickinsonpress.com).
“The addition of Kingsport Book is in direct response to the needs of our customers. The ability to manufacture deluxe books domestically with very short turn times, is one of the core requests we have heard from our customers,” said Aaron Day, CEO of PCC.
“As we continue to grow PCC, we are focused on the companies that have industry-leading talent and are dedicated to exceeding the needs of their customers. It is hard to find a group of employees more dedicated to servicing the deluxe book market than the team at Kingsport Book,” said James Cook, Associate at Blackford Capital.
Blackford Capital invests in middle-market manufacturing, distribution, and service companies in both mature and growing industries. Target companies will have revenues of $20 million to $100 million and EBITDAs of $2 million to $20 million. Blackford currently has 11 portfolio companies located across the United States. The firm is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI (www.blackfordcapital.com).
As a compliment to their full-service suite of deluxe book finishing, Kingsport Book has also developed a fulfillment and distribution division that has been rapidly growing in recent years and has the ability to expand significantly with this acquisition. As demand increases for same day and next day delivery, Kingsport Book is strategically located nearby major hubs for FedEx and UPS that will enable them to provide timely distribution.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | November 7, 2017
