Seattle, WA—RPI, a provider of on-demand, private-label personalized photo books, greeting cards and stationery for mass and specialty retailers, has acquired DPI, an Atlanta-based company that provides web-to-print, on-demand products and services for business-to-business customers.
“Many of our customers have asked us to develop a strong presence on the East Coast, and this acquisition of DPI addresses that need,” said Rick Bellamy, chief executive officer of RPI. “It will help us significantly reduce the time to deliver personalized products to consumers and businesses, and minimize unexpected delays in order delivery created by elements out of our control, such as weather.”
By acquiring DPI, RPI is addressing a growing market need for a company that can deliver powerful, near-time, web-to-print solutions for global brands addressing both the consumer and business markets, Bellamy added.
This is RPI’s second significant acquisition in the past two years. In 2011, RPI acquired Paro, a company based in the Netherlands that provides print products for the corporate and consumer markets in Europe.
“With the proliferation of today’s technology, we have entered a new age of personalization,” Bellamy said. “Consumers are using social and mobile platforms to control conversations about the brand story. Savvy companies are looking for authentic and meaningful ways to participate in these conversations, and to ultimately engage consumers to cocreate experiences where tangible physical products are essential to the experience.”
RPI specializes in make-on-demand photo merchandise for mass and specialty retailers, an estimated $2 billion market worldwide. However, stationery ($11B), yearbooks ($4B), home décor ($26B) and pets ($50B) represent much larger market opportunities for personalized print products, Bellamy said. “With the acquisition of DPI, we believe we are uniquely positioned to help companies address and capture this multibillion dollar market opportunity,” he added.
DPI will become a RPI company, and its management team and 27 employees will be blended into the RPI management structure and workforce. Other terms of the deal, including acquisition price, were not disclosed. RPI has one of the largest digital printing facilities on the West Coast for HP Indigo and Xerox iGen technology. rpiprint.com
