RPI acquires Blurb
Reischling Press, Inc. (RPI), the Seattle, Wash.-based digital printing giant, has acquired Blurb, the e-commerce platform for print-on-demand books, magazines, and other services for self-publishers and creative professionals.
“This is a strategic acquisition for us and culminates the long-term partnership between our two companies,” said Rick Bellamy, CEO, RPI. “Blurb’s primary audiences are creative professionals and self-publishers, and this acquisition leverages the strengths of each organization to deliver a comprehensive e-commerce print solution for professionals, businesses, and consumer brands.”
RPI and Blurb have partnered together for years in the publishing and personalization market, with their business relationship beginning in 2005. Blurb was the enabling customer for RPI’s acquisition of Paro in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 2011.
“RPI has produced the vast majority of Blurb’s volume for years,” Bellamy said. “Therefore, our overall customer base will continue to receive RPI’s focus and commitment to excellent customer experience. We plan to expand our capabilities across our existing in-house and partner network platforms to service our customers through our operational excellence.”
“Becoming part of RPI is a natural next step for Blurb,” says Rix Kramlich, CEO of Blurb, who now becomes general manager of a new eCommerce division. “It will enable us to focus on and accelerate improvements in the things that our users love about Blurb – our world-class creation tools as well as the breadth and quality of our printed products.”
Blurb will continue to maintain offices in San Francisco and the United Kingdom. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many RPI and Blurb employees are working remotely at this time and will do so for the foreseeable future. Other terms of the deal, including acquisition price, were not disclosed.
Fourth acquisition
This is the fourth acquisition for RPI. In 2019, RPI acquired the assets of SoftPrint Holdings, which expanded the company’s geographic distribution footprint. The deal included ColorCentric and Picaboo. In 2013, the company acquired DPI, an Atlanta-based company that provides web-to-print, on-demand products, and services for business-to-business customers. In 2011, RPI acquired Paro, a company based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, that provides print products for the corporate and consumer markets in Europe.
RPI has one of the industry’s largest fleets of HP’s Indigo digital printers and has been listed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for seven years. The Seattle-based company, which celebrated its 40th year in business in 2019, has additional production facilities in Kennesaw, GA, Rochester, NY, and Eindhoven, NL. The company has received strategic investments from HCAP Partners and Riverlake Partners.
Founded in 2005, Blurb has more than 2 million independent book authors worldwide with more than 22 million units shipped to 70 countries around the world.