Although I am no expert, it is likely that the current turbulent economic situation will see more industry consolidation. There will, of course, be those firms who simply cannot continue and cannot find buyers, such as we saw in April 2008 with the closure of the Stinehour Press, one of the country's best known independent printers of high-end illustrated books.

Yet there have been some interesting deals over the last couple of years that highlight the opportunity for acquisition of successful firms who can add unique skills and capabilities to the mix for the acquirer. A couple of these recently caught my eye, and I decided to look a little deeper.

The first was the acquisition of The Johnson Group by Deluxe in October of 2006. I have to admit, I missed the announcement the first time around, but it came to my attention when The Johnson Group picked up part of the assets of Yoffi Digital a couple of months ago. The second was the acquisition of very successful $50 million direct marketing and digital printing firm Rastar by Transcontinental in September of this year. I have written about, read about and spoken to all of these acquired firms over the years and have always been impressed with the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit they reflect. I thought it was unlikely that either The Johnson Group or Rastar were actively on the market at the time of their acquisitions and was curious about the rationale behind the transactions from their perspective. I could certainly see the rationale from the perspective of the acquirers!