Minnesota printing patriarch hauls family back into court over broken truce

The 96-year-old patriarch of a clan that long owned prominent Minnesota printer Japs-Olson claims the company cut off his health insurance and broke other aspects of a truce that settled a family dispute 20 years ago.

On one side of the squabble is William Beddor, former leader of the St. Louis Park printing and direct mail company, and four of his children. On the other side is five more of Beddor's children, including former Japs-Olson CEO Michael Beddor.

Two decades ago, the sides squared off in court over control of Japs-Olson, which is now owned by a private equity firm. Last month, William Beddor and his camp claimed the rival family faction broke a 2004 settlement agreement by changing three life insurance policies and the elder Beddor's health care arrangement.

"Mike Beddor treated his father as an outcast stranger who had no rights and caused (Japs-Olson) to breach its obligations of good faith and fair dealing in numerous respects," William Beddor claimed in the recently filed breach-of-contract suit in Hennepin County District Court.

William Beddor and his co-plaintiff children have asked the court to compel arbitration to settle the issue privately.

Japs-Olson did not respond to requests for comment. The 117-year-old company employs 600 people at a 700,000-square-foot facility on Excelsior Boulevard, according to its website. The company has about $200 million in annual revenue.

William Beddor began working at Japs-Olson in his twenties and in 1957 became the company's CEO, a job he held until 1977. He remained chairman of Japs-Olson until 1995. Beddor owned 70% of the company's stock, which he transferred to his children in the 1990s. Within a few years, the family was in turmoil.

William Beddor and four of his children – the same ones who are co-plaintiffs in the current dispute – sought to oust Japs-Olson's management, including Michael Beddor. They claimed they'd been effectively squeezed out of the company, and that William Beddor had been "unlawfully removed" a director.

An attorney for Michael Beddor's camp at the time called the matter a typical "minority shareholder" dispute: One side wanted to be paid more for their share of the company than the other side believed was fair.

Three separate lawsuits over the dispute were settled in 2004. The William Beddor-allied camp sold company stock for $23 million and gave up board seats.

The truce was allegedly shattered in May 2023, when then-CEO Michael Beddor informed William Beddor his health insurance would be terminated within 18 days due to the sale of Japs-Olson, the suit says.

In June 2023, New York-based private equity outfit Monomoy Capital Partners purchased Japs-Olson for an undisclosed price. New York-based Angelo Gordon, a real estate investment firm, bought Japs-Olson's building for $71.2 million, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Amid the sale, the company told William Beddor it would provide him with $1,533 per month to purchase similar coverage. But that premium payment "pales in comparison" to costs required for Beddor to get the same coverage he had under the Japs-Olson plan, the suit says.

Beddor claims he hasn't been able to find individual health care policy similar to his Japs-Olson coverage.

As part of the 2004 settlement, Japs-Olson also agreed to continue life insurance policies on William Beddor and his wife Bea, who died in 2017. "Maintaining the face value of the policies was very important to Bill and Bea," the suit said.

The beneficiaries of one policy are the four children who sided with William Beddor; all nine Beddor children are beneficiaries on the other two policies. The Beddor plaintiffs claim the Beddor defendants allowed one of three life insurance policies to lapse; ceased premium payments on another; and modified benefits payable on a third.

The William Beddor camp claims the changes will financially harm them.