LSC Communications

Name

LSC Communications

Legal name

LSC Communications LLC

Website

https://lsccom.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

LSC Communications is a B2B commercial printing and integrated communications provider serving publishers, retailers, financial institutions, government, and industrial clients across the US, Europe, and Mexico. It offers offset, digital, and inkjet printing, personalization, specialty finishing, content management, and distribution logistics from 53 manufacturing sites.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Commercial Printing (except Screen and Books) (323111), Printing (32311), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Commercial Printing (2750), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Printing & Business Forms (continuous forms, checks, tickets) (IMAMAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate, Promotional & Custom Print Products Distribution (CRAOALAM), Subscription & Fulfillment Services (Print & Digital) (MPAJAKAB), Periodicals, Magazines & Newspapers Distribution (CRAOALAB)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Variable data printing
• Print finishing services
• Print distribution logistics
• Office supply administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Commercial Printing Services: LSC Communications generates revenue through printing services including catalogs, magazines, books, flyers, direct mail, labels, forms, and print-on-demand. These are predominantly one-time transactional services billed per job, with pricing based on volume, materials, and finishing requirements.
2. Specialty Finishing and Personalization: Revenue from value-added finishing services such as specialty coatings, binding, hot stamping, and variable data personalization for targeted communications. Typically bundled with print services or offered as add-ons.
3. Distribution and Logistics Services: Fees for warehousing, fulfillment, lettershop, kitting, and logistics delivery services covering mass correspondence, parcel delivery, and consolidated shipping across the US and Mexico.
4. Digital Services: Revenue from digital services including content management, workflow optimization, premedia/creative services, in-site color and design support, and e-mailing campaign management.
5. Office Supplies Administration: Revenue from managing and supplying office forms, stationery, consumables, promotional items, and cafeteria products to enterprise clients, offering consolidated invoicing and online reporting.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

LSC Communications provides traditional and digital print, print-related services, and office products to enterprise customers across the US, Europe, and Mexico. The company operates 53 manufacturing sites delivering offset, digital, inkjet, and toner printing, variable data personalization, specialty finishing, content management, and nationwide distribution to publishers, brands, retailers, financial institutions, government, and industrial clients.

Product overview

LSC Communications is a printing, mailing, and marketing solutions company organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering comprises five main service lines: Printing Services (offset, inkjet, and toner printing with special finishing), Personalization Services (variable data and customized communications), Digital Services (premedia, content management via DALIM, and e-mailing), Distribution Services (lettershop, fulfillment, warehousing, and logistics), and Office Supply Administration. These services are delivered through branded sub-units including Lakeside Book Company (book publishing), TOPS Products (office supplies), Herff Jones (academic products), Enru (digital services), and LSC Global Logistics (logistics/tracking). The company also operates LSC Mexico as a regional division. Solutions are structured by vertical markets: Publishers, Commercial Distributors, Industry, Financial Institutions, and Government.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Printing Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 10% savings in office supplies procurement process
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• R.R. DonnelleyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016In 2016, R.R. Donnelley divided its services into three separate companies, one of which was LSC Communications LLC. LSC Communications was established to better serve publishers, brands, retailers, and merchandisers by offering specialized solutions, building on 150 years of R.R. Donnelley's printing experience.
• Wells FargominorOthersWells Fargo provides electronic payment processing for LSC Communications' supplier payments, including ACH and credit card options through the Wells Fargo Payment Manager system.
• Correos de MexicominorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLSC Communications partners with Correos de Mexico as part of its extensive network of specialized messengers, mass messengers, and postal services to design delivery solutions and extend the reach of customer campaigns throughout Mexico.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cimpress: Cimpress (parent of Vistaprint) is a direct peer in mass customization and digital printing, focused on short-run, on-demand print for small businesses and consumers. It represents the digital-native competitive threat to LSC's traditional offset model.
• Multi-Color Corporation: Multi-Color Corporation is a global leader in label printing serving consumer products customers. While more specialized in labels, it competes with LSC in packaging-adjacent print and shares exposure to FMCG brand spending trends.
• Transcontinental: Transcontinental is a Canadian-based commercial printer with a similar integrated platform of printing, packaging, and media services. It serves comparable verticals (publishers, retailers, financial services) and is a key North American competitor, particularly in magazine and flyer printing.
• Walsworth Publishing: Walsworth Publishing is a family-owned US commercial printer specializing in yearbooks, magazines, and book printing. It directly overlaps with LSC's Lakeside Book Company and publisher-facing print business, particularly for education and consumer titles.
• Taylor Corporation: Taylor Corporation is a large private US commercial printer offering printing, mailing, and marketing services across financial, healthcare, and retail verticals. Its vertically integrated platform and emphasis on personalized customer communications closely mirror LSC's value proposition.
• Quad/Graphics: Quad/Graphics is the closest direct competitor to LSC in US commercial printing, offering similar product lines in catalogs, magazines, direct mail, books, and retail inserts. Both serve enterprise publishers and retailers with offset and digital print plus finishing and distribution services, and both are headquartered in the US Midwest with comparable scale.

Broad incumbents

• Toppan Holdings: Toppan is a Japanese diversified printing and information communications conglomerate with global operations in commercial print, packaging, and electronic devices. It represents a broad international incumbent with the scale and capital to compete on global enterprise print RFPs.
• Donnelley Financial Solutions: Donnelley Financial Solutions was carved out of the same R.R. Donnelley parent as LSC in 2016 and serves capital markets, M&A, and regulatory compliance with print and digital solutions. It is a direct spin-off sibling with overlapping customer relationships in financial services printing.
• Bertelsmann: Bertelsmann is a global media, services, and printing conglomerate whose print operations (formerly Arvato) provide commercial print and fulfillment services. It competes with LSC in book and magazine printing for major European and US publishers as a broad international incumbent.

Others

• Ricoh: Ricoh is a major supplier of commercial and production printing equipment, software, and managed services. It enables and competes with LSC by providing digital production press technology and increasingly offering outsourced print services to enterprise customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LSC_COM_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A4 records

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LSC Communications