TORONTO—Pareto Corp, a marketing company whose offerings included print services for direct mail and in-store promo, filed an assignment for bankruptcy on Oct. 2.

The company was affected by a sluggish economy and increased competition that drove down pricing and profits, according to an email from The Riverside Company, the U.S. private equity firm that acquired Pareto in 2011.

Riverside purchased Pareto for a reported $125 million. Although it invested capital in operational and technology upgrades and oversaw several management changes earlier this year, the equity firm says it was unable to turn the business around and lost its entire investment.

Phonecalls to Pareto were not returned. According to a post by the Pareto account on the company's Facebook page, 220 workers plus over 1,500 members of Pareto's national part-time field staff are out of work. The company had offices in Toronto and Montreal, and a production facility in Richmond Hill, Ont.

"We were working hard to reset and create a better, smarter, faster and further model," reads the post, referencing the company's slogan. "Our banking partners decided to change direction and within a matter of hours the 10+ year old Pareto marketing machine that grew to over $100 million+ was no more."

The company, specializing in in-store shopper marketing near the point of purchase, had been in business for over 10 years and was publicly traded until its acquisition in 2011. It was co-founded by printing veteran Gord Griffiths, who is now with The Lowe-Martin Group. Earlier this year, former chief operating officer Michael Bechtol was appointed president and chief executive officer, taking over from founder Kerry Shapansky, who transitioned to chairman of Pareto's board of directors. 

The company's clients included Capital One, L'Oreal, and Shopper's Drug Mart. The first meeting of creditors is scheduled for Oct. 23, according to documents from trustee KPMG.