Converter acquisitions strong at year end.

Consolidation continues apace in the label converting industry, and even seemed to pick up steam in the last two months of 2006, as a handful of prominent companies made acquisitions in North and South America.

York Label, headquartered in Omaha, NE, USA, acquired LSK Label, a well known printer and converter of wine labels located in California. Then it purchased the Ashville, NC, USA division of Quality Assured Label (QAL). York Label itself was acquired in March 2006, along with Industrial Label Corporation, by Wind Point Partners.

Founded in 1974 by John and Pat Grigsby, LSK was among the first to bring pressure sensitive labels to wine bottles, and is also a major label supplier to the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. The Asheville division of QAL has an array of patented and innovative production capabilities, according to York CEO Rich Egan, and is a manufacturer of brand identity labels for the personal care and household goods markets. QAL's main label headquarters is in Minnetonka, MN, USA.

"With the LSK and QAL acquisitions, York has made great progress in reaching our goal of gaining geographic production coverage across the country," says Egan. "They represent tremendous expansion opportunities."

Metro Label Group, headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, has acquired two label printing companies: Aluglass, also of Toronto, and Gordon Graphics, of Novato, CA, USA.

Aluglass, formerly a public company with a plant in Canada and one in the US, was in receivership at the time of sale. According to Metro Label President Sandeep Lal, his company acquired the operating assets of Aluglass, including equipment and personnel in sales, customer service and quality assurance. At one time a large printer, Aluglass had utilized gravure and rollfed offset presses to produce glue-applied labels primarily for the beer industry.

The retention of many Aluglass customers, says Lal, "rounds out our existing product mix with a beer portfolio." Metro-Jonergin, the company's Montreal unit, produces glue-applied labels.

Gordon Graphics, prominent in the wine label sector, was acquired from the family of Gordon Lindstrom, the founder. A change in Lindstrom's health led the family to decide to exit the business, Lal says.

Metropolis Label, a Metro Label division located in Napa, CA, USA, will absorb the business and most of Gordon Graphics' employees, Lal says, and the Gordon plant will be closed in 2007.

Gordon Graphics has been in business for more than 25 years, mainly producing pressure sensitive and glue applied wine labels. Gordon Graphics has been in business since the late seventies. Lal notes that the acquisition has tripled the size of Metro's California operation. Metro Label Group also has a division in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Brady Corporation, a public company headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, USA, whose products include labels, has acquired Asterisco Artes Graficas Ltda. (dba Etiquetas Asterisco) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Founded in 1980, Etiquetas Asterisco manufactures industrial high-performance labels. It specializes in custom labels printed on film materials for the electronics, automotive, pharmaceutical, and other industries. With sales of about $7 million in 2005, the company currently employs 60 people.

"This acquisition expands our capabilities in Brazil and allows us to offer a broader range of label types to customers there, as well as to existing Brady customers throughout Latin America," says Matt Williamson, president of Brady Americas.