CLEVELAND, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Greetings
Corporation (NYSE: AM) and Schurman Fine Papers, a privately held creator,
distributor, and retailer of greeting cards and other social expressions
products, today announced the sale of business units between the two
companies.
American Greetings sold its retail store operations to Schurman Fine
Papers ("Schurman"), which operates card and gift retail stores under the name
Papyrus. Schurman will operate stores under the American Greetings, Carlton
Cards, and Papyrus brands.
American Greetings has purchased the wholesale division of Schurman, which
supplies Papyrus brand greeting cards primarily to leading specialty, mass,
grocery and drug store channels. American Greetings will become responsible
for service to those accounts where Papyrus brand products are sold. The
companies have entered into mutual transition services agreements in addition
to ongoing commercial licensing, supply, and marketing agreements.
American Greetings paid approximately $18 million dollars as consideration
for the wholesale division of Schurman. Schurman paid American Greetings
approximately $6 million for its retail business. American Greetings also
paid approximately $2 million for a 15% equity interest in Schurman. In
connection with the transaction, American Greetings will provide limited
credit support to Schurman.
Chief Executive Officer Zev Weiss said, "Today is a very important day for
our company. The addition of the Papyrus brand to the American Greetings
family provides the opportunity to serve a consumer with distinct tastes -- a
consumer who appreciates the Papyrus approach to design and quality. This
allows us to focus our efforts and stay true to our vision of providing
relevant and compelling products to consumers through leading specialty, mass,
grocery and drug store channels. It also brings to an end our business in the
specialty retail channel, and we believe our stores will flourish under the
Schurman leadership team."
About American Greetings Corporation
For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) has
been a manufacturer and retailer of innovative social expression products that
assist consumers in enhancing their relationships. The Company's major
greeting card brands are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled
Paper Greetings, and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include
DesignWare party goods, American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed
cards and Date Works calendars. American Greetings also has the largest
collection of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at
AmericanGreetings.com through AG Interactive, Inc., the Company's online
division. AG Interactive also offers digital photo sharing and personal
publishing at PhotoWorks.com and Webshots.com and a one-stop source for online
graphics, animations, and more at Kiwee.com. In addition to its product
lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands
through the American Greetings Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland,
Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $1.8
billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets domestically and
worldwide. For more information on the Company, visit
http://corporate.americangreetings.com.
Certain statements in this release may constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. These
statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to
historic or current facts. They use such words as "anticipate," "estimate,"
"expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of
similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or
financial performance. These forward-looking statements are based on
currently available information, but are subject to a variety of
uncertainties, unknown risks and other factors concerning the Company's
operations and business environment, which are difficult to predict and may be
beyond the control of the Company. Important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking
statements, and that could adversely affect the Company's future financial
performance, include, but are not limited to, the following:
- a weak retail environment and general economic conditions;
- the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, including the
Papyrus brand;
- the ability to achieve the desired benefits associated with its cost
reduction efforts;
- retail consolidations, acquisitions and bankruptcies, including the
possibility of resulting adverse changes to retail contract terms;
- competitive terms of sale offered to customers;
- the Company's ability to comply with its debt covenants;
- the timing and impact of investments in new retail or product
strategies as well as new product introductions and achieving the
desired benefits from those investments;
- consumer acceptance of products as priced and marketed;
- the impact of technology on core product sales;
- the timing and impact of converting customers to a scan-based trading
model;
- escalation in the cost of providing employee health care;
- the ability to successfully implement, or achieve the desired benefits
associated with any information systems refresh the Company may
implement;
- the Company's ability to achieve the desired accretive effect from any
share repurchase programs;
- the Company's ability to successfully complete, or achieve the desired
benefits associated with, dispositions, including the sale of the
Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears properties;
- fluctuations in the value of currencies in major areas where the
Company operates, including the U.S. Dollar, Euro, U.K. Pound
Sterling, and Canadian Dollar; and
- the outcome of any legal claims known or unknown.
Risks pertaining specifically to AG Interactive include the viability of
online advertising, subscriptions as revenue generators, the public's
acceptance of online greetings and other social expression products, and the
ability to gain a leadership position in the digital photo sharing space.
In addition, this release contains time-sensitive information that
reflects management's best analysis as of the date of this release. American
Greetings does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or
circumstances that arise after the date of this release. Further information
concerning issues that could materially affect financial performance related
to forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's periodic filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors"
section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
February 29, 2008.
SOURCE American Greetings Corporation
CONTACT:
Gregory M. Steinberg,
Treasurer and Director of Investor
Relations of American Greetings Corporation,
+1-216-252-4864,
investor.relations@amgreetings.com
Web Site: http://corporate.americangreetings.com
(AM)
