Yearbook Specialist OKs Acquisition by Investors

Minneapolis-based Jostens, Inc., which operates 51 printing presses in five large manufacturing plants in support of its longtime business of providing yearbooks, class rings, graduation products, and school photography, has agreed to be acquired for about $494 million in cash (about $48 per common share) by CSFB Private Equity, the investment unit of Credit Suisse First Boston. The transaction is expected to close by September 30.

Jostens, which booked $756 million in revenue last year, had been 88% owned by Investcorp, a private investment group, and additional co-investors. Investcorp bought Jostens three years ago for $850 million, including assumption of $100 million in debt, taking most of the company private.

Jostens has been headed by Robert C. Buhrmaster, chairman and chief executive, who joined the company in 1992, and Michael L. Bailey, president, who joined Jostens in 1978.

In its printing operations, Jostens produces millions of yearbooks annually, along with softcover books, magazines, catalogs, brochures, posters, calendars, and mailing pieces. Services range from desktop publishing and creative art to bookbinding, stitching, sewing, and perfect binding, plus specialty printing of foils and plastics.

In addition, the company produces about $25 million annually in commercial printing volume for outside parties.

The five Jostens plants, which total 639,000 square feet of space, include sites in Topeka, Kan. (the largest, with 232,000 square feet); Winston-Salem, N.C.; Clarksville, Tenn.; Visalia, Calif.; and State College, Pa.