Mergers and Acquisitions: M&A’s Class Struggle

Valuation expectations will play a large role in M&A fruitfulness going forward, according to De-
Wese. Sellers, uplifted by the high-visibility deals, are buying into the recovery message, while buyers are aggressively holding prospects' feet to the low-ball fire in the name of low demand.

Reasonable expectations, and a middle ground, must be sought out. "Both sides must make some mental adjustments with respect to prices, whether their transaction can be price with a multiple of EBITDA or on an adjusted book value basis," DeWese notes. "If you didn't sell during the 1995-2000 
period, you missed the golden era for printing industry M&A."