Ron Jensen

BY CHRIS BAUER There was a time, not too long ago, that you could not pick up a graphic arts publication without going blind by the number of news items focused on Company A acquiring Company B, or Company C buying up the assets of Company D. Then along came the current state of the economy. Wall Street's time of living high on the hog appears to be over—at least for now. Today, you can hardly open a newspaper or watch the evening news without seeing Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, ready to drop interest rates yet again to try to put a

As the consolidation march pauses to take a breath, the sector's leaders are taking the time to prove to Wall Street that they can manage their new empires. BY CHRISTOPHER CORNELL About this time two years ago, the trade press were using metaphors like "juggernaut" and "tidal wave" to describe the actions of a half-dozen companies in the graphic arts industry, as they began an awe-inspiring crusade to consolidate one of North America's more fractured business sectors. Any metaphor that implied inevitability seemed appropriate. Announcements of new acquisitions came, at times, weekly; sometimes they even appeared daily. What a difference two years can make.

KANSAS CITY, KS—San Francisco-based Kelmscott Communications has signed a letter of intent to acquire Spangler Printers, a $26 million, full-service printer based here. Founded in 1941, Spangler is the consolidator's fourth acquisition in two months. In July, Kelmscott acquired Watermark Press in San Francisco, Printing Control in Seattle, and Commercial Printing Company/CDS in Medford, OR. "We welcome Gary Staab and his talented management team into the Kelmscott family," says President and CEO Ron Jensen. "Spangler has an impressive breadth of capabilities, including sheetfed and web printing, as well as bindery, fulfillment and mailing, which gives all our member companies important new cross-selling opportunities."