In diplomacy, the motto for negotiators and peacemakers is “Trust, but verify.” The advice applies to M&A transactions between printing companies as well. Get the facts, confirm the understandings and be open about everything that the process discloses.
Albert J. Reijmer
As businesspeople, we always try to base our decisions on facts, numbers and logic. But, as ordinary humans, we also operate on emotion and instinct. In the year we’ve just entered, we should have plenty of opportunity to display both kinds of behavior.
Last week, many of us served a big and elaborate Thanksgiving dinner to family and friends. If the feast went well, it was because we used a special ingredient that made everything taste good even though it didn’t appear in any of the recipes.
It’s only natural for printers to take pride in their equipment—the tried-and-true machines that helped to make their companies what they are today. But, when the time comes to sell the business, it’s also time to start looking at the machinery through different eyes.
Cycles in print markets and in the economy as a whole can play heavily in sellers’ and buyers’ decisions to move forward with M&A transactions. That may just be a case of stating the obvious, but it’s still helpful to review why these cycles occur and what they imply for dealmaking strategies.
Unfortunately, we have seen them happen more than once: breaches of confidentiality that have disrupted and even destroyed what otherwise would have been successful mergers of printing and packaging companies. Because playing close to the vest in M&As is more complicated than it may seem, a review of best practices in this sensitive area of dealmaking is well advised for every company owner with a transaction in mind.
