Thursday, August 10, 2006
Cenveo Starts an Attempt to Buy Banta... Please, No... and other stuff
Cenveo is attempting to buy Banta. Nothing could be a more horrible idea for the Banta folks. Cenveo was a badly run company, and they needed the takeover shake-up to unravel their lack of economies after some dubious acquisitions that were "aggressively" financed. Banta, on the other hand, is a well run company in a significantly retrograde market, and is doing quite well restructuring on its own, and seeking new markets, especially internationally. Banta should be left alone. But why this approach? Perhaps the Cenveo management is already looking for a way out of their current situation? Banta should be the one on an acquisition search. But from their historical lack of activity in this area, I have always felt that they have realized investing in their own company organically is a far better long-term use of resources, avoiding finance and transition risks. Watch for Banta to attempt to go private, or to merge with someone who is already private and also successful as a means to avoid the cost and business disruption of an attempted takeover... there's another successful printing company in Wisconsin, you know. In the meantime, Banta stock may run-up as this heats up in the press... maybe that's the idea?
Letter from Cenveo to Banta http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060809/law051.html?.v=69
Letter from Banta to Cenveo http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=BN&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=894364
Cenveo's latest financial results for its most recent quarter (-$30mm, 3x the loss of last year) http://members.whattheythink.com/news/newslink.cfm?id=23906
Banta's latest 10Q ($16mm profit for the last quarter, half of last year)
Banta's latest stock price, etc. http://finance.google.com/finance?q=banta
Banta stock jumped about a third, and as I write this, its P/E is 15ish and its forward P/E is 13ish. Assuming a P/E of 20, it could hit $60 and still not be considered overvalued by many.
A personalization story: get your own Wheaties box!
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-08-09-vanity-food-usat_x.htm
Wireless media being used to target younger audiences
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2006-08-08-mobile-ads_x.htm
Letter from Cenveo to Banta http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060809/law051.html?.v=69
Letter from Banta to Cenveo http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=BN&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=894364
Cenveo's latest financial results for its most recent quarter (-$30mm, 3x the loss of last year) http://members.whattheythink.com/news/newslink.cfm?id=23906
Banta's latest 10Q ($16mm profit for the last quarter, half of last year)
Banta's latest stock price, etc. http://finance.google.com/finance?q=banta
Banta stock jumped about a third, and as I write this, its P/E is 15ish and its forward P/E is 13ish. Assuming a P/E of 20, it could hit $60 and still not be considered overvalued by many.
A personalization story: get your own Wheaties box!
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-08-09-vanity-food-usat_x.htm
Wireless media being used to target younger audiences
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2006-08-08-mobile-ads_x.htm
