Glendale-based American Reprographics Co., the parent of Irvine-based OCB Reprographics, has acquired Universal Reprographics South Inc., also based in Irvine, for an undisclosed sum.
Family-owned Universal, founded in 1965, has $6 million in annual revenue and 120 employees. Universal’s workers are set to become part of OCB. The company also has offices in Orange and Costa Mesa and a broad client base that includes Mitsubishi and Toshiba.
OCB Reprographics also has offices in the Irvine Spectrum, Orange and Fullerton. (The Fullerton office is the former Fullerton Blueprint, which was acquired by OCB last year.) OCB, which counts $39 million in annual revenue and 400 employees, will manage the Universal operations under the OCB name, headed by OCB President Chuck Hayes. Barry Gerson, Universal’s president and chief financial officer, plans to retire.
Hayes, who has known the Gerson family for 25 years, said the addition of Universal’s three offices should allow OCB and American to better serve clients in Orange and San Diego counties by bringing OCB’s online networking system to Universal’s customers. In addition, OCB offers onsite facilities management, something Hayes said was not a big part of Universal’s services.
“It brings us more flexibility, additional equipment and some good managers and clients,” Hayes said. “It’s a good mix.”
American Reprographics touts itself as the largest provider of reprographic services and technology in the country. It has about $400 million in annual revenue and more than 3,000 employees across 41 divisions in 22 states. Reprographics companies traditionally provide large-format blueprint and planning document copies to architects, engineers, builders, attorneys, software manufacturers and graphic designers.
