Is the Commercial Printing Industry Ripe for Another Wave of Consolidation? – June 2013 M&A Activity
Consolidation in the commercial print space heated up in June. Of special note, at least to me as the former owner of a commercial printing company, is the return of Consolidated Graphics (CGX) to the deal table. The company announced that it is acquiring Universal Printing Company in St. Louis, Missouri. CGX, arguably the most successful of the consolidators that rolled through the commercial printing industry in the 1990’s, has been absent from our deal log in the two years since we started The Target Report. Could this latest transaction be a signal that owners of commercial printing operations that are well managed can expect valuations to improve and/or that those owners’ expectations of value have reached equilibrium with buyers’ willingness to pay?