PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CSS Industries, Inc. (NYSE: CSS) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the business and assets of Blumenthal Lansing Company, LLC (“Blumenthal”). Blumenthal is the leading provider of buttons to the sewing and craft markets in the United States, selling to mass market retailers and wholesale distributors that service independent retail stores. The acquisition of Blumenthal marks the third acquisition by CSS since May 2014, reflecting the Company’s strategy of growing its business through strategic acquisitions. Pre-tax transaction and transition costs totaling approximately $1,586,000, or $0.11 per diluted share, are expected to be incurred in the Company’s fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2016. The Company expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per diluted share for the Company’s fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.
“We welcome Blumenthal’s employees, customers and vendors to the CSS family of companies. Blumenthal’s products and markets are highly complementary and we expect this combination will strengthen our existing craft line of business,” said Christopher J. Munyan, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSS.
CSS is a consumer products company primarily engaged in the design, manufacture, procurement, distribution and sale of all occasion and seasonal social expression products, principally to mass market retailers. These all occasion and seasonal products include decorative ribbons and bows, journals, boxed greeting cards, classroom exchange Valentines, gift tags, gift bags, gift card holders, gift wrap, decorations, floral accessories, craft and educational products, Easter egg dyes and novelties, memory books, scrapbooks, stickers, infant and wedding photo albums, stationery, and other gift items that commemorate life’s celebrations.
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, among others, statements relating to the Company’s strategy of growing its business through strategic acquisitions, the amount and timing of expected future pre-tax transaction and transition costs associated with the acquisition of the Blumenthal business, and the Company’s expectations that such acquisition will be accretive to earnings per diluted share in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 and will strengthen the Company’s existing craft line of business. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the Company’s management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company’s management as to future events and financial performance with respect to the Company’s operations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances arising after the date as of which they were made. Actual events or results may differ materially from those discussed in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including without limitation, risks associated with the acquisition of the Blumenthal business, including the risk that the Company may incur pre-tax transaction and transition costs that exceed our current expectations, the risk that the Company may not be able to successfully manage and integrate the Blumenthal business and/or obtain the accretive financial benefits currently expected from the acquisition of the Blumenthal business, and the risk that the Blumenthal acquisition may not strengthen the Company’s existing craft line of business; risks associated with the Company's acquisition strategy, including risks associated with identifying suitable acquisition candidates, acquiring acquisition candidates on commercially reasonable terms, and successfully managing and integrating acquired businesses; general market and economic conditions; increased competition (including competition from foreign products which may be imported at less than fair value and from foreign products which may benefit from foreign governmental subsidies); increased operating costs, including labor-related and energy costs and costs relating to the imposition or retrospective application of duties on imported products; currency risks and other risks associated with international markets; the risk that customers may become insolvent, may delay payments or may impose deductions or penalties on amounts owed to the Company; costs of compliance with governmental regulations and government investigations; liability associated with non-compliance with governmental regulations, including regulations pertaining to the environment, Federal and state employment laws, and import and export controls and customs laws; and other factors described more fully in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 and elsewhere in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of these factors, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements included herein or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of, the Company.