Business Management - M&A

Modern Litho has partnered with YUDU Media, a leading app developer, to help meet its clients’ needs for digital products.

RR Donnelley and Quad/Graphics apparently have their sights set on gobbling up more competitors—but not each other.

In some ways, owning a printing company you intend to sell is like investing in the stock market. Because the value of what you own can fluctuate unpredictably, waiting for a market "peak" before you act can be a needlessly risky thing to do. It’s better to begin working with your M&A advisor so that when the right offer comes along at the right time, you will be ready.

A sales, service and support agreement has been reached between W+D North America and Buhrs B.V. of the Netherlands.

Learn the five critical steps necessary to ensure that transaction goes through from industry M&A pros.

Paper and packaging industry giant MeadWestvaco appears to be at the end of its life as an independent entity. The company agreed to a merger with RockTenn to form a yet-to-be-named successor company. RockTenn’s expertise in kraft paper, corrugated cartons and retail displays will combine with MeadWestvaco’s strengths in paperboard and folding cartons. The result will be a powerful player in the increasingly global packaging industry, with over $15 billion in annual revenues.

In apparent preparation for the deal with RockTenn, earlier in the month MeadWestvaco announced the spinoff of its chemical business into a separate public company.

Yesterday, two momentous events occurred nearly simultaneously in the industry that makes coated paper for catalogs, magazines, inserts, and brochures. NewPage sold its Biron, WI, and Rumford, ME, mills to Catalyst Paper, which shifted about 12 percent of the nation's coated-paper capacity into Canadian hands.

The purchase of NewPage by Verso was completed a year and a day after it was first proposed. The U.S Justice Department, fearing a combined Verso-NewPage would have too large a market share, required the sale of the two NewPage mills for the takeover to be approved.

Knowing from the get-go exactly what you want to accomplish by purchasing another firm puts you in a winning frame of mind and increases the acquisition's likelihood of success. At New Direction Partners, we know that when a prospective buyer comes to us with a clear picture of the kind of company he or she wants to buy, we can zero in that much more quickly on candidates that will be complementary or accretive to the buyer's present business.

As 2014 winds down, it's satisfying to report that the year has been a mostly good one for mergers and acquisitions in the printing and packaging industry. Looking back, we can see that a normal level of M&A activity has returned to the industry and that—assuming we get no more shocks from the general economy—opportunities for dealmaking will carry over into the year ahead.

More borrowing options exist now than was the case a few years ago. The best way to connect with them is to get expert advice from a source that knows the printing industry and its financing requirements. A qualified advisor can vet private equity lenders, streamline dealings with banks and generally make capital for equipment purchase or business acquisition more accessible. That way, you'll leave no money on tables you may not even have known were there.