Upfront

Court OKs Quad/Vertis Deal

SUSSEX, WI—A U.S. Bankruptcy Court green-lighted the proposed sale of Baltimore-based Vertis Holdings to Quad/Graphics. The deal, announced in October, entails substantially all of the assets comprising Vertis' businesses for $258.5 million, which includes the payment of approximately $88.5 million for current assets that are in excess of normalized working capital requirements.

AFL Web Closes Plant

VOORHEES, NJ—AFL Web Printing closed its doors here last month, leaving upwards of 200 employees without jobs, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The company also has a facility in Secaucus, NJ. There was no word on the status of that location. AFL Web produced a number of newspapers, including the Catholic Star and Herald, the South Jersey Times and the Jewish Week, as well as guide books, coupon books and niche publications.

PBM Settles EEOC Lawsuit

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC—PBM Graphics, a Consolidated Graphics company, will pay $334,000 to settle a "national origin" discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced. The EEOC had charged that PBM violated federal law by refusing to place and/or assign non-Hispanic workers to its "core group" of regular temporary workers.

Fire Destroys Print Shop

DETROIT—An explosion and fire destroyed DMH Printing, which had been in operation for only a few months. No injuries were reported, but an apparent gas explosion completely wiped out the building. Thousands of dollars worth of equipment was destroyed and 12 workers were left without jobs.

Brown's Petersen Retiring

WASECA, MN—Mike Amundson, currently CFO and EVP of the Catalog Market Segment at Brown Printing, has been appointed president and CEO. He replaces Volker Petersen, who will retire on June 30. Petersen, who was inducted into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame last year, will use the next six months to help ensure a smooth business transition. Prior to joining Brown in 2005, Amundson was the COO of The Hadley Companies and a partner at Coopers & Lybrand.

Paper Shutters Subsidiary

RIVERSIDE, CA—The Press-Enterprise newspaper announced it was closing down SoCal Commercial Printing, a subsidiary commercial printing operation that had been servicing the community for about 25 years. The closure left 47 workers without jobs.

Southeastern Buys Assets

STUART, FL—Southeastern Printing, a provider of commercial, digital, wide-format and flexographic printing, has acquired the assets of SCP Graphics of Boca Raton. A new company, known as SEP Communications, has been formed as a result. SEP Communications will become the strategic selling arm of Southeastern Printing and its primary focus will be to provide Web-to-print, storefront programs for specific corporations and organizations.

Printers Forge Sales Pact

MENOMONEE FALLS, WI—Arandell Corp. and Schumann Printers have signed a joint venture marketing agreement to cross-sell their manufacturing platforms. Currently, Arandell specializes in long-run printing and services, while Fall River, WI-based Schumann focuses on short-run capabilities and services. By working together, the two firms will be able to expand the range of services they offer to existing and new customers.