Compass Capital Partners

BY ERIK CAGLE Who can forget 1998 and 1999? Those were easily the salad days of merger and acquisition in the commercial printing industry. The dotcom craze was sweeping across all U.S. industries, with venture capitalists seeking new avenues into the printing segment. Wall Street coveted this largely fragmented industry, and a wave of new kids on the block, consolidators, embarked on the IPO-and-roll-up philosophy. Roughly a half-dozen of these consolidators vied for the growing number of printing companies looking to become cogs in much larger machines, seeking either payola or the benefits from the economies of scale. The national economy was a well-oiled

Okay, that's it! I'm enraged! I've taken another 150 print buyers hostage, and this time I'm not telling where I'm holed up with this motley crew. You remember the last time I took print buyers hostage; I admitted that I was holding them in the Ritz Carlton in Chicago. I served them Dom Perignon and the best Beluga. Eventually, the FBI "negotiated" their release. I'll tell you about my demands later. First, I want to tell why I'm so angry. It was this past Friday, about 4 p.m. I had given myself the afternoon off to tend to my garden. Why not? Most

Company owners, CEOs and sales managers are always telling me that they clip my columns, photocopy them and distribute them to their salespeople. I'm going to turn the tables and give you salespeople something to slip into the boss' inbox. It's most of the text of a speech I gave on leadership to the Paperboard Packaging Council in Washington, DC, back in March. The folks at the Paperboard Packaging Council had scheduled some famous economist to speak, but he couldn't show up so they called me to fill in. Of course, they probably called me first, but the guys at the bus station failed

New Digs for Graphics Microsystems ROCKWALL, TX—Graphics Microsystems (GMI), headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, opened its new 50,000-square-foot facility here in February to increase capacity for its Microcolor ink controls, ColorQuick closed-loop color control systems and PrintQuick color-to-color register systems. The shareholders of Check Technology Corp. have approved a proposal to change the company's name to Delphax Technologies. Rudi Lenz has joined Sun Chemical as senior vice president and CFO. Most recently, Lenz served as president and CEO of Fairchild Aircraft. SICPA North America, a provider of ink solutions to printers of labels, plastic cards, packaging and carton gravure applications, has appointed JoEllen Lawler as director of human

I have just returned from the NAPL Top Management Conference held at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The weather was cold, windy and wet, and I caught cold. None of the golfers caught cold. I stayed indoors—but I caught cold. That's just part one of my bad mood. Part two of my black temper is the practice of some conference speakers who generalize about the printing industry. You cannot generalize about this industry. What applies to the business conditions or microeconomics of a half-size sheetfed general commercial printer does not apply to a long run, heatset web publications printer, or to

Okay, I want all of you in the back to settle down. Don't make me call security on you. I can't be waiting up here while you finish those beers and hoagies. I've got some serious business to cover in this column and we've got to get started. Here's the agenda. First, I'm going to talk about the importance of customers, which some of you dolts still don't seem to get. Next, I'm going to talk about good negotiating skills, which some of you—especially those in the back row—appear to think is synonymous with fist fights and arguments. Finally, I'm going to report on

Creo Products has appointed Mark Dance to the position of CFO. Dance retains his position as COO and will continue to serve as a director of the company. Dance replaces Michael Graydon who will continue with the company in an advisory role. Graydon is scaling back his responsibilities in order to pursue a greater balance in his family and work life. Also, Creo has appointed Judi Hess to fill the position of president, graphic arts. Hess has held the position of corporate vice president, printing workflow solutions, since April 2000. Goss Graphic Systems has reached an agreement in principle for the sale of substantially

DARIEN, CT—The 2001 campaign continues to be a challenging one for some of commercial printing's biggest names. Printing Arts America (PAA), based here, has filed for Chapter 11 reorganizational bankruptcy, another blow to the once-flourishing corps of commercial printing industry consolidators. Joe Ahearn, of Pilgrim Associates, has been brought in by PAA to lead the company during its bankruptcy proceedings. Ahearn replaces departed President/CEO Marion Antonini. Harris DeWese, of Compass Capital Partners, has been engaged to advise PAA on strategic direction. Formed in 1998, PAA quickly made a name for itself by acquiring 11 companies in the United States and Mexico. The debt accrued in financing the

BY HARRIS DEWESE Have you been thinking now is the time to sell your printing company, buy a 60-foot Hatteras yacht and retire to Boca Raton? Forget it! Merger and acquisition activity in the printing industry is at a standstill. But, you say, "DeWese, you are crazy! My company is much better than my competitor, Smart Al's Lithographing. Al sold his print shop to a consolidator less than two years ago and he is living in Key Largo where he fishes on his 42-foot Chris Craft. He told me that he was paid more than six times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and

BY MARK SMITH Every boom must have its bust. It's still just the nature of the business cycle, despite all the talk about the "new economy." Knowing that really doesn't make it easier to cope with a downturn, though, especially one marking the end of one of the longest periods of economic expansion in U.S. history. But maybe it should be a source of some comfort. The U.S. economy has always shown the resiliency to bounce back, even from a depression, and printing sales have followed right along. In addition, many of the same fundamentals that fueled the expansion are still in place, working