3 Lessons Learned from Transaction Involving King Organization and Century Direct

Download King Organization Becomes Part of Century Direct FINAL 2-18-11

Here are 3 non-confidential "Lessons Learned" from the recently announced strategic transaction involving King Organization and Century Direct:

1. In considering options among potential suitors, the owners of King placed significant importance on becoming part of a leading company that ALREADY HAD IN PLACE strong capabilities that would enhance customer relationships (as opposed to joining a company that would have to "build" those capabilities or rely on outside suppliers);
2. Once again the personal chemistry and ethical alignment among principals made a huge difference in both sides being able to navigate the M&A process fairly and efficiently;
3. In an industry such as printing and mailing that is dominated by family-owned businesses, we note that King's passing as an independent company can be traced to family shareholder problems that affected critical decision-making and capitalization long before the decision was made to become part of Century.

Comments

[Mike Kellogg, CEO, Century Direct, LLC.]

Another lesson learned: intermediaries with experience are very important, especially in a case where one party has experience in mergers and acquisitions and the other doesn't. Fairness in dealing is a given but for one not learned in the art of deal-making it is reasonable that suspicion and distrust borne by lack of a benchmarking knowledge base makes "fairness" an elusive term. That is where someone like John or Tim is very helpful to both sides in making a deal. They know what fairness is and can put it in context.