It's Another Acquisition for PDF Print Communications

Just four months after closing on the acquisition of Madison Forms Corporation, Signal Hill, California-based PDF Print Communications is welcoming Trade Printers Inc. to its portfolio of companies.

If you’ve been following the SoCal company, the news shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Kevin Mullaney, president of PDF Print Communications, hasn’t been shy about his intentions to accelerate growth through acquisition activity. As he told Print+Promo in a recent Executive Perspectives column, the Madison deal enabled his print business to sell to the Midwest and East Coast.

“I feel the consolidation of companies (including both manufacturers and distributors) will result in a stronger industry that is more focused on service and quality and less on pricing,” Mullaney said when asked about the economy’s impact on the industry. “I have always been an optimistic person—sometimes to a fault—and I look for opportunities to grow even in an economic downturn.”

By acquiring Trade Printers, PDF Print Communications will expand its line with unique, yet complementary, products, noted Mullaney. Known for its integrated products and hospital mount sheets, Trade Printers was founded in 1976 by Gary Stewart and two partners. According to the Phoenix-based printer's website, by the early 1980s, Stewart held the patent for the first-ever integrated label, and continued to invent other patented solutions to serve distributors in the business forms industry.

In addition to Madison Forms, PDF Print Communications operates two plants in Phoenix: Team Print Media and Speedflo. Trade Printers will operate at its current location for a few months, and then the product line will be integrated into both of PDF Print Communications’ Phoenix plants. Julie Moerman, vice president of sales for Trade Printers, will stay on in her current role and be based at the Speedflo location.

“This acquisition will allow us to continue to serve our existing customers’ needs, as well as provide them with products we were not able to produce in the past,” she said in a press release.

“Trade Printers is merging into Speedflo, with most employees coming onboard and some are retiring,” Mullaney said of the remaining staff.

The acquisition, which settled on July 1, will put sales over the $20 million mark for Top 50 Supplier PDF Print Communications. Corporate Development Associates served as the financial advisor to PDF Print Communications.