There's been more than the usual chatter these days about "listings" of printing companies for sale.
My personal opinion is that listings are usually a waste of time because mergers and acquisitions of privately-owned print and graphic communications companies involve subtle nuances of chemistry and strategic fit that don't fit into neat boxes. The business of M&A is not like residential real estate where a multiple listing service ensures consistent terminology and methods.
Principals and business advisers hardly can agree on what is a "sale" or "merger", so how can this fit into "fill in the blanks" listings? It can't. As an example, the words "sell the business" can mean "sell the business as a going entity" or "sell the stock of the company" or "sell all or substantially all of the assets".....but many "sale" transactions take place with only one asset exchanging hands, the intangibles; this is the typical sale of intangibles to one buyer while the equipment/plant to sold to dealers or auction, which is technically a sale of assets arising out of an orderly liquidation. Or what if the company restructures to shed manufacturing assets and now farms out production requirements, what is that called?
The word "merger" is even more imprecise. What if the sale involves owners receiving equity in the buyer, that would be a "merger" but what if it is only one of the partners, or what if the buyer moves into the target company's infrastructure, is that an acquisition or a sale or a merger?
Residential real estate is easy, no one is confused by the words "sell" or "buy"......no one even thinks of consideration other than cash at closing, could you imagine offering a royalty arrangement, or an earn-out for a house purchase? No one questions whether the buyer is going to move into the seller's house or even thinks that maybe the reverse tuck-in is an option.
My advice to owners of print and graphic communications companies is to leave listings to the residential real estate folks and rather spend your valuable time on networking and leveraging professional contacts in search of potential synergistic opportunities. A carefully orchestrated outreach campaign can supplement the use of contacts.
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