Transcontinental Inc., a printing firm based in Montreal, has acquired JDM Inc. for $85 million in cash and $2 million in working capital. JDM, which consists of a printing plant, a primary direct mail lettershop and three ancillary direct mail facilities, will operate under Transcontinental Direct USA.
The acquisition doubles Transcontinental’s printing capabilities to more than 5 billion pieces annually, depending on what type of material (direct mail, postcards) is being printed.
Before the acquisition, the company’s United States operations consisted of eight plants located in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Dallas Ft. Worth. All five JDM facilities are based in eastern Pennsylvania.
JDM founder and current chairman Vincent F. Carosella is going to retire, according to Don McKenzie, president of Transcontinental Direct U.S.A. But Carosella’s son Chris, who had been serving as JDM’s president, will move over to Transcontinental Direct and become executive vice president in charge of direct mail operations on the east coast. Another son, Brad, will head up marketing operations from Transcontinental Direct.
In addition to the increased printing capabilities, JDM brings high speed, high volume inkjet printing capabilities to Transcontinental Direct.
JDM currently employs 1,100 workers. The company generated $91 million in sales during 2004. The acquisition will boost parent company Transcontinental Inc.’s revenue from direct marketing activities to $315 million. Transcontinental reported revenue of $1.7 billion in 2004.
