ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996                 TAG: 9605080020
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER 

A DEAL NOT YET SEALED TRANSKRIT BUY PUSHES ENVELOPE

DEC International Inc., Atlanta parent of the Double Envelope plant in Roanoke County, has tentatively agreed to buy Transkrit Corp., a Roanoke business-form printer.

DEC and the parent of Transkrit, Rogers Communications of Toronto, hope to close a deal by July 1, according to Frank Neubauer, Transkrit's chief executive officer.

Terms of the proposal were not disclosed but plans call for continuing all Roanoke operations of both companies.

Neubauer said Tuesday that a letter of intent, signed in late April, does not commit either company to completing a deal but signals both sides are warm to the sale.

Rogers acquired Transkrit in 1994 as part of its purchase of Maclean-Hunter Ltd., a Toronto communication conglomerate. Rogers' primary interest was Maclean-Hunter's Ontario cable television operations; Rogers previously said it planned to sell unrelated businesses, including Transkrit.

Transkrit has a plant in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology and one in Salem. The company has 850 employees, including 250 at the Roanoke and Salem plants printing and manufacturing business forms.

Neubauer has described the possibility of a sale as "a strong plus" for Transkrit, because Transkrit would pass from a company whose interests lie in cable television to one whose primary interest is printing.

In the event it buys Transkrit, DEC plans to continue operating three manufacturing divisions at 7702 Plantation Road devoted to making catalog inserts, pressure-sensitive labels and envelopes, said Rob Miklas, the company's president and chief executive officer.

Envelope division goods are traded under the Double Envelope name. Double Envelope in 1992 merged into National Fiberstok, and today both entities are owned by DEC, a maker of supplies for the direct mail industry.

The Roanoke County plant has about 250 employees, said Bill Britts, the corporation's senior vice president of marketing.

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