Greenville, WI-based School Specialty (Nasdaq: SCHS) reported record revenue of $870.0 million for the fiscal year ended April 26, a 13% increase over last year’s record sales of $767.4 million. Acquired businesses accounted for most of the increase.
Net income for fiscal 2003 was $39.6 million, an increase of 82% from $21.8 million last year. The company, which sells school supplies to educators and schools, has nine specialty brands — ClassroomDirect, Childcraft, ABC School Supply, Sax Arts and Crafts, Frey Scientific, Brodhead Garrett, Teacher’s Video, Premier Agendas, and Sportime.
School Specialty also announced an agreement to acquire Select Agendas, Premier’s largest competitor. The transaction will be accounted for as a stock purchase with a price of approximately $11 million, subject to adjustment for earnings. Select Agendas, a Canadian-based company, sells 2.5 million agendas annually. The transaction is expected to close this month.
“Select is an excellent addition to our agenda product line,” School Specialty president/CEO David Vander Zanden said in a statement. “The agenda content focuses on organizational skills and character building for students in K-12. Select’s market penetration in Canada, specifically Quebec, and its market share on the East Coast in the United States strengthens and complements Premier Agendas’ dominant market position.”