Ennis Inc. Acquires Independent Printing Company

Ennis Inc., a top 50 supplier headquartered in Midlothian, Texas, has purchased yet another top 50 supplier: Independent Printing Company.

According to a press release, the company bought Independent and related entities in a stock purchase transaction that closed on Friday. The majority stockholder was a private equity firm in New York.

Independent, a manufacturer of presentation folders, checks, wide format and commercial printing, has four locations in Wisconsin, with its main facility based in DePere, Wis. Going forward, the company will have four folder facilities in Michigan, Kansas, California and Wisconsin, as well as wide format capabilities in Colorado and Wisconsin.

Of the acquisition, Ennis Inc. Chairman, President and CEO Keith Walters said:

We are delighted to have the opportunity to combine Independent with the other operations of Ennis. With this acquisition we will continue to be the preeminent provider of all types of presentation folders in the marketplace. The addition of the wide format operation will add to the capabilities of our existing operations, which should help us to continue to penetrate the point-of-purchase and screen print marketplaces.

Independent is the parent company of De Pere, Wisconsin-based Independent Folders, which ranked No. 20 on Print+Promo’s 2016 Top 50 Suppliers list with annual sales just over $35 million.

Independent, along with its related entities, will keep their names. All locations are expected to continue their normal operations.

This marks the first acquisition announcement of 2017 for Ennis Inc. Last March, the company made headlines after purchasing the assets of Major Business Systems in Hillsborough, N.C. A month later, Ennis announced the pending sale of its Alstyle apparel division to Alstyle Operations LLC for an aggregate purchase price of $88 million. In a bit of a twist, Ennis accepted a better offer—a total cash purchase price of $110 million—from Montreal-based Gildan Activewear, and terminated its agreement with Alstyle Operations LLC.