Industry M&A Activity : Deals Are in Full Bloom

From the printer side, Jim Cohen—executive vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Houston-based Consolidated Graphics (CGX)—feels overall activity during the past 12 months has declined. Many of the businesses that survived the recession are hanging on and hoping to improve their financial results before trying to sell, Cohen notes, while others have not recalibrated their valuation expectations to meet post-recession realities. A third group, the owners of distressed companies, are either holding off because their banks have thrown them a lifeline or they have thrown in the towel without fully exploring opportunities to sell.