BUSINESS MEMO: HALLMARK ACQUISITION

KANSAS CITY -- Hallmark Cards Inc. will buy InterArt Holding Corp. of Bloomington, Ind., maker of Sunrise brand greeting cards and other paper products.

Terms of the transaction, announced last week, were not disclosed.

InterArt, with 620 employees, had sales of about $53 million in the fiscal year ended March 31. About three-fourths of its annual sales are from greeting cards, with the rest from writing paper, gift packaging, frames and magnets, journals and other products.

The acquisition is the largest to date for Hallmark's North American personal expression business, said Don Fletcher, president of the division.

InterArt's products are sold in more than 22,000 stores in the United States and Canada, with very little overlap with current Hallmark distribution, the two companies said.

Hallmark, the world's largest manufacturer of greeting cards, is privately held. In July, the company agreed to buy British rival Creative Publishing PLC for $306 million in cash.