July 25, 2006 was a pivotal day in the history of Banta Corporation. On that day, Banta released its second quarter financials and revised its earnings guidance down for 2006. Then the bottom fell out and its stock price dropped 22%.

Earnings guidance is revised up and down by many companies, and a downward revision can trigger interest by a company on the search for acquisition targets. For Banta, the announcement and change in stock price caught the eye of management at Cenveo Inc.

In the end, the very public move by Cenveo to take over Banta resulted in an acquisition; not by Cenveo, but by RR Donnelley. Donnelley, under the hand of Mark A. Angelson, completed a "whirlwind" acquisition of MooreWallace in late 2003 (finalized in 2004: see "The Courtship of Giants – RR Donnelley and Moore Wallace").  Angelson orchestrated a similar acquisition of Banta; this time it was just over six weeks from overture to acceptance.