Books endure. We discard newspapers the day after, magazines stick around a bit longer, junk mail not at all, but books we keep. After we read a book, we shelve them, we show off our book collection as backdrops in our Zoom calls, we stack books in corners, we store them in boxes, we might drop them off at a used bookstore, we might even make books into works of art, but we almost never just toss them out. Printed books endure. Book printing company Grafica Veneta, located in the Italian province of Padua, a half hour drive from the causeway to Venice, announced the acquisition of a majority ownership stake in Lake Book Manufacturing. The acquired company is close by Chicago’s O’Hare airport, likely an enabling factor in the decision by an Italian book manufacturer to invest in a US-based partner. The owner of Lake Book, Dan Genovese, noted that his family’s Italian heritage also played a part in the decision to seek and accept an international investment in the company, especially one based in Italy. Both companies are positioned to manufacture a wide range of book products for the publishing trade, with capabilities ranging from one-color to full-color text, paperback and hardcover editions, along with fully decorated book jackets.

*Revenue for the second quarter was $84.8 million higher than the previous year. Excluding incremental revenue from the First American acquisition, which closed on June 1, 2021, and business exits during the quarter, revenue increased $31.2 million, or 6.6% year-over-year. *The Payments segment delivered revenue growth of 65.7% over the previous year to $171.2 million. Excluding incremental revenue from the First American acquisition, Payments grew 6.7%. *Net income of $22.1 million included gains of $17.5 million from the sale of the Australian web hosting business and a call center facility, and also included an $8.0 million increase in First American acquisition amortization and an increase in interest expense of $11.9 million resulting from the acquisition transaction. Prior year net income included $15.9 million of acquisition transaction costs. *Cash flow from operations for the first half of the year was $72.2 million and capital expenditures were $45.3 million. Free cash flow was $26.9 million, a decrease of $10.3 million compared to the first half of 2021, and included increased interest payments of $28.8 million.

As many as 200 workers will be out of work by the end of January when the Quad/Graphics facility in Taunton closes, according to the Wisconsin book manufacturer. Emails were sent out Wednesday to workers informing them of the bad news, said spokeswoman Claire Ho. Ho said workers will be offered either a severance package with limited continuation of medical benefits or the chance to work at another of the company’s locations, most of which are in other parts of the country. “We want to take care of them,” she said on Friday from her office in Sussex, Wisconsin. Ho said the plant at 1133 County St., located on Route 140 near the onramp for Route 24, specialized in assembling traditional reading books. Click Read More below for additional information.