American group Big Flower has renamed its European operations under its new Vertis brand, amid speculation that it may shed some of its print interests.


The change means that UK subsidiaries including Colorgraphic, Olwen Direct Mail and Cobalt Customer Solutions are renamed Vertis. However, pre-media wing Fusion Group, which includes the former Production Response, Lifeboat Matey and Admagic businesses, will not see an immediate name change because the Fusion rebranding only took place last year.


The Vertis name was chosen because it is "literally at the centre of advertising", said the group. "But it's not just about a name change, it's putting something firm behind it and the bigger picture is end-to-end solutions that are far bigger than Colorgraphic or Olwen on their own," said director of enterprise solutions Andy Ruddle.


However, sources close to Vertis in the US are suggesting that the firm may sell off the manufacturing side of the Colorgraphic business. "It could make sense for them to take a chunk of costs out of the business by losing the capital intensive bit and keeping the IT and fulfilment sides," said the source.


Big Flower bought Colorgraphic for 50m in 1999, when the business posted a profit of 4.7m. In the year to December 1999, despite a big jump in sales to 41.5m, Colorgraphic's pre-tax profit margins fell from 15.3% to 3.7%.


European managing director Adriaan Roosen was unavailable as PrintWeek went to press, but a spokesman said Thursday (25 January) that the sell-off speculation was unfounded.


Story by Jo Francis