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News Release from: Plimsoll Publishing | Subject: VIBE UK printing industry analysis
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 April 2007
Over 100 UK Printers Are Targets For
Take Overs
A new report in to the UK printing industry has claimed that at least 131 UK printing firms are prime targets for a take over and another 233 could be sold off by their parent companies.
That is according to independent business analyst Plimsoll Publishing, which added that at the other end of the scale, there 43 companies that are expanding rapidly, largely through acquisitions and 67 predators that are using the misfortune of other companies to clean up in the market Plimsoll's senior analyst, David Pattison, said: "The 131 take over targets we have identified generally have a similar profile, each being privately-owned, they are perhaps in financial difficulty and they have owners who are approaching retirement
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 23 Feb 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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Any firm in this position should be listening to the warning bells, because its potential selling price will be in the bargain basement.
The other 233 distressed companies are operating as divisions of larger parents and I am fairly certain that conversations are going on behind closed doors about their futures." He added that the big companies are focusing on businesses with sales of around GBP5 million.
Some are being bought because they offer good value for money and an extra foothold in the market, but another reason for acquisition is to prevent those firms entering the ownership of competitors.
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The 167 companies that fall in to that bracket are in the position of being in a sellers' market, so they are able to name increasingly higher prices as availability reduces.
Pattison explained: "There are typically two classic profiles of the takeover target - up-and-coming industry players and those who have fallen on hard times.
Sadly, in the latter category we see some firms that were doing very well only a few years ago but allowed costs, debts and margins to get out of hand.
It's worth saying that our research has identified 448 companies whose current value is 50 per cent lower than a credible future value." He continued: "Potential new owners believe that they can run the company better than the current owners and turn this future value in to hard cash.
Against a background of over capacity, rising costs and falling margins, consolidation in the UK printers market is inevitable in 2007." Plimsoll said that its new VIBE analysis of the printing industry paints a clear picture of each company in the market.
It identifies those in financial distress, those with aging boards of directors, those with hidden potential and a range of other factors that affect their likelihood of being taken over.
Based in Stockton-on-Tees (UK), Plimsoll is a business analyst in the UK, France and Japan.
It added that is has 16,000 customers worldwide.
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