Integrated Marketing Services acquires Automated Graphics

CLAY — Integrated Marketing Services, Inc., a firm that has specialized in direct-mail marketing services for more than 20 years, has acquired Automated Graphics, Inc. of DeWitt.

It was an asset purchase that closed on June 18, says Michael Barker, president and CEO of Integrated Marketing Services.

Barker is the firm’s majority owner, while company vice presidents John Kinslow and Edward Mertens, Jr. have a minority ownership stake in the company.

Integrated Marketing acquired some office furniture and amenities from Automated Graphics, its client list, and existing customers, he adds.

“We are temporarily using the name and we acquired all their assets and we hired all their employees on as employees of our company,” says Barker.

Barker declined to release any terms of the acquisition during an interview with the Business Journal News Network on July 9.

“Our goal here is to continue to provide the marketing-communications services that Automated Graphics has been providing,” Barker says.

Integrated Marketing Services operates in a 20,000-square-foot facility at 4682 Crossroads Park Drive in Clay.

Automated Graphics will continue operating in a space at 5846 Heritage Landing Drive in DeWitt as the firm’s employees transition to Integrated Marketing.

The acquired firm will temporarily be known as Automated Graphics, an Integrated Marketing Services company for about 90 days as the transition progresses, says Barker.

With the asset purchase, Integrated Marketing has the right to use the name until the clients are familiar with the new firm, he adds.

Michael Byrnes and Edward Bambrick are the partners who previously owned Automated Graphics, according to Barker. Byrnes has since retired and Bambrick is also advancing toward retirement age.

Byrnes and Bambrick approached Integrated Marketing Services about the acquisition possibility, says Barker.

“They didn’t want to just close the doors and walk away. They wanted to continue the business [if] possible,” he adds.

Barker has known Byrnes for about 25 years as a competitor in the same industry, he says.

Integrated Marketing Services hired Bambrick as a consultant for an undetermined period of time, perhaps between six months to a one year, to help with the transition “from a client contact standpoint,” says Barker.

The acquisition discussions began last August, Barker says, continuing for about 10 months before both sides finalized the deal.

Besides the partners, Automated Graphics employed four full-time workers who are still working at the DeWitt facility for the time being.

“We’re going to complete the transition over to our location by the end of this month,” says Barker.

The added workers bring the employee count at Integrated Marketing Services to about 30, he adds.

Integrated Marketing Services financed the acquisition through a loan from M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), but Barker declined to disclose the amount of the loan.

Automated Graphics, a print-based, marketing-communications company, is “similar” to Integrated Marketing Services, says Barker.

Automated Graphics doesn’t handle the production work that Integrated Marketing can do, he says. The DeWitt firm strictly focused on graphic design, marketing, and consulting.

“They have some key customers that we were interested in getting to know better, which is really why we were in agreement to do this,” he says.

Barker declined to disclose any specific client that his firm wants to assist with services, saying that it’s still too early to disclose names following the acquisition.

Integrated Marketing already services clients that include Time Warner Cable, Aspen Dental, Raymour & Flanagan, National Grid. The firms that Automated Graphics worked with are also in that “same corporate category,” he says.

Besides its work in direct-mail marketing, Integrated Marketing Services also handles digital print work for brochures, post cards, and pamphlets and larger format printing work for trade shows, vehicle wraps, and signage, says Barker.

The firm generates about $4 million in revenue annually, he adds.

The Automated Graphics space in DeWitt will eventually go back on the market, says Barker.

The website of the Onondaga County Real Property Tax Services office lists Erie Heritage Group, LLC as the owner of the property at 5846 Heritage Landing Drive.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

SMALL-BUSINESS SNAPSHOT
Integrated Marketing Services, Inc.
4682 Crossroads Park Drive
Clay, N.Y. 13088
Phone: (315) 433-1190
Website: www.intmarkserv.com

Type of business: Direct-mail and digital-print marketing firm
Employees: 30 full time
Annual revenue: $4 million
Company owners: Michael Barker, Edward Mertens, Jr., John Kinslow