STAMFORD, Conn. (From news reports) -- Executives of Cenveo say the Stamford-based company will successfully navigate its recently declared bankruptcy. But some of the firm's largest investors do not share that optimism.

Cenveo, which describes itself as one of the largest printing businesses in North America, is facing a massive test in the Chapter 11 proceedings it started last month. The company says it is still paying employees and suppliers while moving toward fiscal stability. Key shareholders, however, are unconvinced. They are disgruntled with the Burton family, which runs the company, and pessimistic about the prospect of a turnaround.

"Robert Burton Sr. and the other members of the executive leadership cover the backs of each other," Nathu Puri, founder of the Nottingham, England-based multi-industry conglomerate Purico Group and Cenveo's third-largest shareholder, said in a phone interview. "But they should work for the good of the business -- that includes employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders."

Cenveo officials declined to comment.

Cenveo declared bankruptcy after a long slide, which has been punctuated by chronically weak earnings.

For the third quarter of 2017, revenues totaled about $330 million, a 14 percent drop from the same period last year. It recorded a loss of $28 million. Fourth-quarter earnings have not yet been released.

"The plan we are pursuing today will significantly reduce our debt and improve our capital structure to support our long-term business strategy," CEO and Chairman Robert Burton Sr. said in a statement last month, when the bankruptcy was announced. "This court-supervised restructuring process will protect our business operations, as we will continue to operate in the ordinary course."

Last year, the company announced it would aim to produce major savings through a new "profitability improvement plan." The initiative was on track to hit its $65 million target, company officials said last November.

Despite the cost-cutting, the company is saddled with a lopsided balance sheet. At the end of 2017, its debt load hit approximately $1.43 billion, compared with about $790 million in assets.

"I don't think Burton Sr. understands how to improve the business," Puri said. "What I see is they tried to cut costs, but when they cut costs, they also cut the top line. If you cut the top line, you end up cutting the bottom line. You do shortcuts, and they look good to patch up for the short term. But they're not good for the long-term health of the company."

Cenveo's travails did not prevent the company from landing, last November, a $61 million printing and mailing contract for the 2020 U.S. Census. The deal covers the production of questionnaires in English and Spanish, letters, inserts, postcards and envelopes.

In a statement provided in response to an inquiry by Hearst Connecticut Media, the U.S. Government Publishing Office did not indicate it was considering canceling the contract.

"The successful performance of the 2020 Census printing and mailing contract is critical to the overall success of the 2020 Census," the statement said. "Together with the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, we intend to take all appropriate steps, consistent with the contract and applicable law, to protect the government's interests."

GPO officials declined to comment further.

While Cenveo is a publicly traded company, the Burton family exercises an outsized role. Burton owns 10.2 percent of the company's shares. Sons Robert Burton Jr. and Michael Burton serve, respectively, as president and chief operating officer.

Its largest shareholder, Allianz Global Investors, which holds a 17.5 percent stake, declined to comment.

Shareholder unrest about Cenveo's management runs deep, according to an Aug. 24 letter Puri wrote to Burton Sr. Puri, who owns 8.2 percent of the company's shares, estimates he has lost a total of about $15 million on his investment.

"You have been in charge for more than 10 years and received a very substantial amount in compensation," Puri wrote. "During the last 10 years, shareholders have lost around $1 billion in the value of their shares. Current net equity value is less than half the amount you and (the) Burton family have received in compensation. You should understand the pain which shareholders feel."

Just two months before the bankruptcy filing, Cenveo adopted a new executive compensation plan. It included one-time cash payments worth 40 percent of Burton's annual base salary and 60 percent of the yearly salaries for other executives including Robert Burton Jr. and Michael Burton.

The plan awarded the Burton family $2.8 million, Thad Mcllroy estimated in a post last month on his website, thefutureofpublishing.com.

In his letter, Puri reiterated an offer to consult for Cenveo for free. He told Hearst Connecticut Media the company did not take him up on the offer.

"They should bring in some independent people," Puri said in his interview. "And they've got to change the board because it's a bloody disaster. How can the current leadership turn it around when they've brought a company with a value that was once $1.5 billion down to what it is today?"

Last month, Cenveo announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer, Mark Hiltwein, who held the same position during an earlier stint with the company. It also named a chief restructuring officer, Ayman Zameli, who will lead restructuring initiatives during the Chapter 11 proceedings.

But Burton Sr. is keeping the top post, and Cenveo has not announced any changes to its board since the bankruptcy filing. The board includes University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst, who declined to comment for this article.

Burton Sr. is one of the UConn athletic program's biggest boosters. Michael Burton captained the 1999 football team.

The Burton Family Football Complex in Storrs was largely funded by a $2.5 million contribution from Burton Sr. He has also donated more than $1 million to set up two endowed scholarships for UConn student-athletes.

Bankruptcy has kept the company afloat, but questions about Cenveo's long-term viability will not soon dissipate.

Brigade Capital Management, the company's fourth-largest shareholder and one of its major bondholders, last month requested in a court motion that an examiner be appointed to investigate the bankruptcy plan. Cenveo then filed a response last week alleging threats against the company by a "Brigade professional" during a Jan. 25 meeting.

"At the conclusion of the meeting, one of Brigade's professionals explained, in front of the entire room, that Brigade would dig under every rock to find 'dirt' on the Burton family and use it against the company if Cenveo did not deliver a second-lien (debt) recovery," the filing said.

Brigade declined to comment on the allegations.

Despite the company's predicament, some industry experts are not ready to write it off entirely.

"Dying is too strong a term for what's happening to the printing industry, as it assumes an end-point of 'dead,'" wrote The Future of Publishing's McIlroy. "While the vital signs of the industry: sales, employment, number of establishments, and profitability, continue to plummet, there's no particular reason to think that print will disappear in our lifetimes.

"On the other hand, as the printing industry's most notable economist 'Dr. Joe' Webb puts it, 'not dead' is not the same as being 'alive.' "

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