Flint Group Sues Trend Offset Printing on Multiple Counts for Outstanding Debt and Confiscation of Consigned Good

LIVONIA, Mich., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Flint CPS Inks North America LLC, formerly known as Flint Group North America, which is the North American subsidiary of Luxembourg-based Flint Group serving the commercial printing industry, has filed a multi-count lawsuit in the United States District Court Central District of California -- Southern Division against Trend Offset Printing Services, Inc. ("Trend"). The charges include breach of contract, account stated and conversion. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and other forms of relief. McDonald Hopkins PLC of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., is representing Flint Group.

Headquartered in Los Alamitos, Calif., the defendant is a national printer serving magazine, catalog, direct mail and retail advertising segments, whose services include prepress, press, finishing and mail and distribution of printed materials (sale circulars and printed inserts). Flint Group and Trend entered into a Supply Agreement on or about January 1, 2016, which was later amended by a First Amendment to Supply Agreement, dated August 1, 2017.

This action arises out of Trend's breach of this supply agreement whereby Flint Group provided Trend with inks, flat blankets, sleeves, fountain solutions, web conditions and press washes. The current balance owing on Trend's account with Flint Group is nearly $4 million (USD). The substantive actions leading to the claims in the complaint pre-date the COVID-19 crisis.

What started merely as breach of contract for failing to pay for goods escalated to a wrongful retention of Flint Group's property and usage of ink products in flagrant violation of Flint Group's contractual rights. Trend ceased making timely payments for pre-supplied ink products while at the same time made substantial use of the goods.

Moreover, Trend has excluded Flint Group personnel from taking regularly scheduled inventories of pre-supplied goods at Trend facilities and prevented Flint Group from repossessing or reclaiming those consigned goods in further violation of Flint Group's contractual rights.

It is a common practice in the printing industry for major suppliers such as Flint Group to pre-position materials at customer locations and determine the amounts used on-location at agreed upon intervals for subsequent billing.

About Flint Group North America

Headquartered in Livonia, Mich., Flint CPS Inks North America LLC is the North American subsidiary of Luxembourg-based Flint Group and manufactures printing inks and image transfer products. The company offers products such as flexography, gravure, news prints, heatset, letterpress, metal decorating, pigments, chips, and resins.

About Flint Group

Flint Group is dedicated to serving the global printing and packaging industry. The company develops, manufactures and markets an extensive portfolio of printing consumables and printing equipment, including: a vast range of conventional and energy curable inks and coatings for most offset, flexographic and gravure applications; pressroom chemicals, printing blankets and sleeves for offset printing; photopolymer printing plates and sleeves, plate-making equipment and flexographic sleeve systems; and pigments and additives for use in inks and other colorant applications. Flint Group also designs, develops and delivers web-fed digital color presses for labels and packaging applications, document printing, as well as commercial printing and platemaking equipment for the newspaper industry and computer-to-plate solutions for the commercial printing market. With a strong customer focus, unmatched service and support, and superior products, Flint Group strives to provide exceptional value, consistent quality and continuous innovation to customers around the world. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs some 6800 people. Revenues for 2019 were EUR 2 billion, and on a worldwide basis, the company is the number one or number two supplier in every major market segment it serves. For more information, visit www.flintgrp.com.

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SOURCE Flint Group