Wednesday March 11, 2009
Officials at Panini deny reports circulating on the Internet that the company has finalized a deal to purchase Donruss. “We are in discussion but nothing has been finalized,” said Panini’s Peter Warsop. Donruss officials did not return requests for comment.

Multiple industry sources have said the deal has been agreed to in principle and has received the approvals of the necessary licensors. Donruss owner Ann Powell has reportedly been listening to acquisition offers for more than a year, and late last year, Upper Deck had been rumored to be among the companies most actively pursuing a purchase.

Speculation that Panini was interested in buying the company began in late January, almost immediately after it was named the exclusive trading card licensee for the NBA for the next four seasons. The acquisition of Donruss would not only give Panini, whose corporate headquarters are based in Italy, access to recognized brand names for its initial entry into the U.S. card market, it also offers a base of operations in this country for everything from product development to card design and pre-press operations.