If you sent your dad an e-card instead of an actual card for Father’s Day, you might not be stunned to hear National Envelope Corp. filed for bankruptcy and was put on the market this month.

Despite the apparent inevitability of the bankruptcy, the news is actually somewhat surprising when considering that the Frisco, Texas-based paper envelope maker is controlled by successful Westwood private equity firm Gores Group.

Founded by billionaire chief executive Alec Gores, the firm has approximately $3.6 billion in assets under management and has a reputation for acquiring or partnering with underperforming companies and turning them into lucrative ventures. Famously, it acquired educational software firm the Learning Co., which was losing $1.5 million a day, and turned it profitable within 75 days of acquiring it from Mattel Inc. in 2000.

With a history of such business savvy, it’s unusual for one of the company’s entities to file for bankruptcy.

Gores Group declined to comment for this story. But Lawrence Perkins, chief executive at L.A. turnaround consultancy SierraConstellation Partners LLC, said the recent turn of events is unlikely the result of mismanagement and might, in fact, be a wise move by the company.

“I would doubt this was a misfire,” Perkins said. “They are known as being smart and as a result, they do take risks. I would guess this was a scenario they knew would happen and they had (this bankruptcy as) a contingency plan.”

So what happened?

Gores Group bought the company for $150 million out of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. At the time, it signed a long-term agreement with International Paper Co. to supply paper to the envelope maker. It now cites that contract as a significant factor in the financial woes of National Envelope, which has seen sales plummet more than 20 percent year to year as the use of old-fashioned mail declined.

National Envelope, which makes 37 billion envelopes a year and employs 1,600, said about 60 percent of its production costs are from paper provided through the supply agreement, which includes fixed prices that prevent National Envelope from reducing its costs as dramatically as competitors.

With sales falling and an inability to cut costs much further, the company is exploring its other options.

It’s not clear whether Gores intends to sell the company or if it’s simply looking to get an idea of what the market value of the company is today. Moreover, if it can sever the existing supply contract through bankruptcy, it might be able to sell the company for a greater sum or turn it around, according to Ken Russak, partner at Frandzel Robins Bloom & Csato LC in West Los Angeles.

“If they can’t sell it for a price acceptable to the secured lenders, the debtors will have to pursue a traditional plan of reorganization,” he said.

If convincing someone else to buy an envelope company sounds impossible, Russak noted that the industry isn’t quite dead yet.

“Some industries need to die so the economy can create something new, but paper isn’t quite there yet,” he said. “The myth of the paperless office has proved to be just that, a myth.”