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Mark Hahn, Senior Managing Director at Graphic Arts Advisors, brings a wealth of expertise and insight garnered over three decades in the printing, packaging, and related industries. As the Managing Director and Founder of Graphic Arts Advisors, Mark spearheads a specialized consulting firm renowned for its comprehensive advisory services tailored to the unique needs of clients in these sectors. With a multifaceted approach encompassing mergers & acquisitions, strategic and financial advisory, business valuations, and more, Mark collaborates closely with company owners, management teams, lenders, investors, and shareholders to navigate complex challenges and achieve strategic objectives.
With a diverse background spanning finance, operations, sales, and senior management roles, Mark’s profound understanding of the industry landscape is further enriched by his firsthand experience as the founder and eventual seller of his own printing company. His strategic acumen and hands-on leadership have been instrumental in driving growth and facilitating successful transactions for numerous printing businesses. Beyond his professional endeavors, Mark’s commitment to social responsibility is evident through his volunteer work with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), where he advocates for abused children within the NJ Family Court system. Through his widely-read blog, The Target Report, Mark continues to serve as a leading voice in the industry, offering invaluable insights and analysis on emerging trends, mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcy filings, thus cementing his status as a trusted authority and thought leader in the printing and packaging sectors.
Graphic Arts Advisors, headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, specializes in providing comprehensive financial advisory services to businesses within the printing, packaging, marketing services, and related graphic communications sectors nationwide. Their expertise spans mergers, acquisitions, company sales, financing, valuations, expert analysis, strategic counsel, and advisory, catering to company owners, investors, lenders, boards of directors, and senior management. Clients attest to their invaluable assistance in navigating complex market landscapes, leveraging their extensive connections, and identifying optimal opportunities, ensuring successful transactions while maintaining confidentiality and competitive advantage.
Chris Santomassimo: Welcome back to the Think Factory podcast. And I’m your host, Chris Santomassimo from OGC Solutions and we power the Think Factory podcast. I’m excited to be with my friend Mark Hahn, who is the Senior Managing Director at Graphic Arts Advisors. So welcome to the podcast, Mark.
Mark Hahn: Thank you, Chris. Thank you for having me on the podcast.
Chris Santomassimo: Oh, it’s my pleasure. So I’m going to let you introduce yourself in a minute. But Mark is about as close to the M&A market in printing and packaging as anyone. And he’s an author of a of a report called The Target Report that I look forward to every time it’s published. So, Mark, tell us a little bit about graphic arts advisors and the connection to the brand market.
Mark Hahn: All right. Well, graphic arts organizers is an M&A advisory firm. We focus solely on the printing and packaging and related graphic communication industries. And what that means is usually if we’re involved, somebody somewhere is putting ink on something, not always because there are marketing service companies that we work with, but usually it has to do with a printing technology and. The firm is comprised of five partners. Four of us are X printing company owners, myself included in that that group. I sold my company 21 years ago. I have a partner in Seattle, partner in Kansas City, a partner in Palm Beach, and then a partner in New York. The four of us who have sold our companies, we kind of come at this from a different perspective, which is, I guess, one way to say it is we’ve we’ve we’ve walked the talk, I guess I can say. And then my fifth partner, John Hyde, is an attorney, licensed, non-practicing. And John, for some reason, got involved in the printing industry 40 plus years ago. And he’s been involved in, you know, dare I say, hundreds of M&A transactions in the industry. So that’s who we are. And so what what are we doing? About half our business is sell side M&A. We work on a retainer basis for sellers. We bring companies to market and we advise on the process to a close. A quarter of our business is by side advisory and that’s for people, companies that are seeking to buy companies in the printing, packaging, graphic communication industries. Those tend to be very highly focused, highly strategic engagements for us. And the last quarter of our business is a mixed bag value assessment. And then we have a subspecialty. If you could get more niche than being an M&A advisor in the printing and packaging industry, we also have a specialized practice and John Hyde, the attorney, heads this part of our practice up and that is restructuring within the printing and packaging industry where turnaround work is also called. So Chris, that’s the quick who we are and what we do.
Chris Santomassimo: It’s really impressive market. Believe me, I can relate to John’s interest in the industry, even though it is a it’s a fascinating industry for an attorney. There’s no doubt about it, especially when you have a focus there, you know, what do you see? And in general, maybe from market perspective, you know, I know a lot of people have talked about a ton of interest, both from strategic buyers and financial investors in the industry. You know, we talk about what you see and what should people appreciate about, you know, that observation about how the market looks and why there’s that interest.
Mark Hahn: Well, from my perspective, I see the market has cooled off from the prior years. And and so what do I see again? The the part of the market that we focus on is most of the entrepreneurs. And I’m going to say with revenues between five and six $60 Million, that’s our sweet spot where we operate very well where folks like to engage us. So in that space. I’ve seen less interest on the seller’s part. And why is that? I think it’s because after the COVID pandemic, there was clearly a bulge in demand, and a lot of printing companies, packaging companies, did really well in 2022. And 2023 was the very thing for not everybody, but somewhat of a disappointment from 2022. So sellers who held off during COVID had a great 2020 to enjoy the profits. Thought about going to market, but then found that their performance was lagging. And I’ve even talked to a couple fairly large commercial printing companies that went from a nice gain or profit in 2022 to a loss in 2023. So there was a pretty dramatic change, and those companies are holding off on bringing their company. Those owners are holding off on bringing their company to market. So so we’ve seen a cooling off in the market. And then, of course, you’ve got higher interest rates. So you’ve got higher costs on leases and and if you have to refinance in higher cost and facility space. So all those factors are impacting, I think, the sellers more than the buyers. There’s still a lot of buyers out there with very strong balance sheet and an interest in doing acquisitions.
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