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Visant Corp., a New-York based school-related products and marketing and publishing company, is currently reviewing strategic and capital market options, according to a regulatory filing.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed a wire service report that the options under consideration including a possible sale, and that Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse have been hired as advisors to the privately-held company.
The source said that a partial divestment, an IPO, or a recapitalization would also be under consideration, noting that the regulatory filing reveals that “capital market options” are also under consideration.
Visant, according to regulatory filings, is controlled by affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and reported approximately USD 1.2bn in net sales and nearly USD 285m in EBITDA last year.
In the first quarter of this year, ended 31 March, Visant reported that net consolidated sales were up 12.% over the same quarter last year, reducing a consolidated net consolidated loss from continuing operations from USD 1.5m to USD 1.1m for the most recent quarter.
Visant’s consolidated Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was USD 46m for the first quarter of 2007 compared to Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations of USD 46.4 million for the first quarter of 2006, according to regulatory filings.
The source said that variability in Visant’s business – it has three business segments, yearbook, scholastic, and marketing and publishing - made purchase price comparisons difficult, but that if typical multiples such as 10 times EBITDA or more are utilized, that Visant as a whole could sell for USD 2.85bn or more.
The source said that the yearbook segment, that provides publication, marketing and sales services regarding yearbooks, and the scholastic segment, that provides graduation products to schools, fit together better and that it is possible that a potential purchase could be interested in those two segments and not the company’s third segment.
That third segment, which provides marketing and publishing services related to personal care and cosmetic products, could be of interest to other potential purchasers, the source said.
A prime part of Visant, according to the source, is the more than 100-year-old, Minnesota-based Jostens, whose products include yearbooks, class rings, graduation products and products for athletic champions and their fans.
Jostens produces the bulk of Visant’s net sales, regulatory filings show.
Visant holdings include: Illinois-based Lehigh Direct, which provides in-line printing and interactive marketing solutions and owns a 234,000-square-foot facility just outside Chicago; Dixon Direct, located 90 miles west of Chicago in Dixon, Illinois, and also provides in-line printing and interactive marketing solutions; Lehigh Lithographers, based in New Jersey, which manufactures sheet-fed products for education, consumer, and other markets; Visual Systems, a Wisconsin-based specialty printer and producer of book components and overhead transparencies; Neff, an Ohio-based supplier of scholastic awards and apparel; and Arcade Marketing, which provides samplings and sampling technology to the fragrance and personal care products industries.
The sources said that Illinois-based RR Donnelley & Sons, which in May of this year completed a USD 412.5m deal to purchase Visant holding, Von Hoffmann - a printer of books and other products that serves primarily the education, trade and business-to-business catalog segments - could be a potentially-interested purchaser for other parts or the whole of Visant.
The source said a significant private equity purchase interest could also expected.
Visant Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Visant Holding Corp., according to regulatory filings.
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