American Greetings Corp

American Greetings Corp., one of the key companies responsible for all those “Gotcha!” greeting cards you're getting for April Fools' Day, will be taken private by its founding family in an $878-million deal. The agreement with the Weiss clan , involving company chairman Morry Weiss, Chief Executive Zev Weiss and President Jeffrey Weiss, still needs to be approved by shareholders. Extended members of the Weiss family have run the Cleveland company since it was launched more than a century ago. It became an over-the-counter stock in 1952, and pulls in about $1.7 billion in revenue a year, according to the company website.

American Greetings Corp., one of the key companies responsible for all those “Gotcha!” greeting cards you're getting for April Fools' Day, will be taken private by its founding family in an $878-million deal. The agreement with the Weiss clan , involving company chairman Morry Weiss, Chief Executive Zev Weiss and President Jeffrey Weiss, still needs to be approved by shareholders. Extended members of the Weiss family have run the Cleveland company since it was launched more than a century ago. It became an over-the-counter stock in 1952, and pulls in about $1.7 billion in revenue a year, according to the company website.

American Greetings Corp., a 100-year-old greeting-card company, said it bought a major stake in Hatchery, which develops and produces family and children's entertainment. Terms were not disclosed. The partnership will enable American Greetings, creator of Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake, to use its characters in Hatchery's films, videos and TV shows.

Cleveland-based American Greetings Corp.'s quarterly profit tumbled 42% on sagging sales. Earnings for its fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 23 were $29 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with $49.7 million, or 83 cents, a year earlier. Sales and other revenue totaled $485.7 million, down nearly 7% from $521.2 million in the year-earlier period, when the company had a $20-million gain on agreements with retailers and $14 million in sales from product lines that have since been sold.

American Greetings Corp. and Egreetings Network Inc. have been discussing ways to merge their online businesses, according to a regulatory filing. Cleveland-based American Greetings obtained a 19.6% stake in Egreetings through the acquisition of Gibson Greetings Inc. last month. Egreetings, based in San Francisco, offers online cards, gifts and invitations through its Web site.

The former president of American Greetings Corp. has settled accusations that he used insider information to avoid nearly $500,000 in stock losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. Edward Fruchtenbaum, who has denied wrongdoing, agreed to pay back $79,437 of his gains plus $267,022 in fines and court costs. The settlement also prohibits him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly held company for five years, the SEC said.

American Greetings Corp., the largest publicly traded greeting card company, said it will close its Ontario, Canada, plants and cut 650 jobs as it restructures its international business. The Cleveland-based company said it will take a second-quarter charge of about $30 million for severance costs and closing the operations. It expects to take another charge later this year related to its international operations.

Cleveland-based American Greetings Corp.'s quarterly profit tumbled 42% on sagging sales. Earnings for its fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 23 were $29 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with $49.7 million, or 83 cents, a year earlier. Sales and other revenue totaled $485.7 million, down nearly 7% from $521.2 million in the year-earlier period, when the company had a $20-million gain on agreements with retailers and $14 million in sales from product lines that have since been sold.

Jacob Sapirstein, founder of American Greetings Corp. 81 years ago, died Wednesday at his home in University Heights. He was 102. American Greetings is the largest publicly held manufacturer of greeting cards. Sapirstein emigrated from Poland to Boston in 1905, then moved to Chicago before settling in Cleveland in 1906. He began his career by selling cards in a downtown hotel and later founded the Sapirstein Greeting Card Co.

American Greetings Corp. said third-quarter profit rose 35% as a boost from the sale of its reading glasses division offset low sales of cards and gift wrap. The company also reduced its earnings forecast for the year. The Cleveland-based company said it earned $62.8 million, or 78 cents a share, in the quarter. That's up from $46.4 million, or 60 cents a share, in the third quarter a year earlier.

American Greetings Corp. said third-quarter profit rose 35% as a boost from the sale of its reading glasses division offset low sales of cards and gift wrap. The company also reduced its earnings forecast for the year. The Cleveland-based company said it earned $62.8 million, or 78 cents a share, in the quarter. That's up from $46.4 million, or 60 cents a share, in the third quarter a year earlier.

American Greetings Corp., a 100-year-old greeting-card company, said it bought a major stake in Hatchery, which develops and produces family and children's entertainment. Terms were not disclosed. The partnership will enable American Greetings, creator of Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake, to use its characters in Hatchery's films, videos and TV shows.

The former president of American Greetings Corp. has settled accusations that he used insider information to avoid nearly $500,000 in stock losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. Edward Fruchtenbaum, who has denied wrongdoing, agreed to pay back $79,437 of his gains plus $267,022 in fines and court costs. The settlement also prohibits him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly held company for five years, the SEC said.

American Greetings Corp. said it would buy rival Bluemountain.com for $35 million in cash, just two years after At Home Corp. paid $780 million in cash and stock for the e-mail greeting card publisher. The deal gives debt-laden high-speed Internet access firm At Home some much-needed cash. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company had warned that it lacked enough funds to carry it through the end of the year. American Greetings, which operates the AmericanGreetings.com, Egreetings.

American Greetings Corp. said it will miss fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year profit estimates because of a $33-million charge to revise the value of its investment in Egreetings Network Inc. The company, which acquired 20% of Egreetings with the purchase of Gibson Greetings last year, also said its online unit will acquire the rest of Egreetings for about $28.6 million, or 85 cents a share.

American Greetings Corp., the second-largest U.S. greeting card maker, sued its No. 1 rival, Hallmark Cards Inc., over patents for ordering personalized cards online. In a lawsuit filed Jan. 25 in federal court in Ohio, American Greetings contends that Hallmark's three patents, awarded in 1996, 1999 and 2000, "are invalid under the laws of the U.S." because Hallmark knew of earlier inventions before the patents were issued. The suit says that Kansas City, Mo.

American Greetings Corp., the No. 2 U.S. greeting card company, agreed to buy No. 3 Gibson Greetings Inc. for about $163 million, or $10.25 a share, to increase its British and Internet presence and challenge leader Hallmark Cards Inc. American Greetings will get money-losing Gibson's British greeting card division, its stake in closely held Egreetings Network and 24,000 products, including cards, gift wrap, party goods and Silly Slammers bean bag characters.

American Greetings Corp., the second-largest U.S. greeting card maker, sued its No. 1 rival, Hallmark Cards Inc., over patents for ordering personalized cards online. In a lawsuit filed Jan. 25 in federal court in Ohio, American Greetings contends that Hallmark's three patents, awarded in 1996, 1999 and 2000, "are invalid under the laws of the U.S." because Hallmark knew of earlier inventions before the patents were issued. The suit says that Kansas City, Mo.

* Cummins Inc., the world's largest maker of high-power diesel engines, said it expects to report a fourth-quarter loss because of declining North American demand for heavy-duty trucks. The loss will be 35 cents to 45 cents a share, said spokeswoman Dorothy Brown Smith, and doesn't include a pretax charge of about $160 million. The Columbus, Ind.-based company was expected to earn 66 cents a share, the average estimate of eight analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.