MARKHAM, ON—MPH Graphics will undergo a sale process in the coming weeks via stalking-horse bid through the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. President Stephen Pugh says one buyer is at the table.

"We're restructuring. It's not a bankruptcy, and I continue to run the company," said Pugh, who launched MPH in 1988. Overseeing the process, which Pugh estimates may last around six weeks, is appointed trustee Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver.


MPH Graphics offers digital, litho and wide-format commercial printing

Pugh called the 2009 acquisition of Signature Printing a "dismal failure," pegging it as a key development leading to MPH's current situation. "There was a dramatic lack of performance from that sector," he said. "Hindsight is 20/20. I shouldn't have done that deal."

While talks are underway with a prospective buyer, the bidding system is open to others as well. According to Pugh, the language of the sale agreement talks about merging two businesses. "It's about saving jobs, as many jobs of the MPH staff as we can, and about looking after the clients that we have developed over 25-30 years," said Pugh. The company has 20 employees.

Pugh notes that suppliers will be hurt by the process, "which I'm not happy about," he said. "All I can aspire to is to make them whole, or get whatever their injuries are back to them in the future, with additional business when the sale is complete."