What will Wallis do next?

Just catching up on some interesting snippets from the past week, among which is the fact that Stuart Wallis has joined HH Associates as chairman, taking an equity stake in the print manager at the same time.

Older readers may recall that Wallis, along with David Jones, was the brains behind the creation of Communisis at the beginning of the decade, when their investment vehicle John Mansfield Group snapped up Rexam's commercial printing interests, Waddington, and then in short order Centurion in a £417m spending spree.

The duo did very nicely out of the new group, sharing almost £5m through an unusual bonus pool arrangement. Wallis retired from his Communisis role in 2003 after the final payments were made under the "Mansfield 1999 Incentive Plan".

I wonder what he makes of the current state-of-play at his old business? And I also wonder if this deal-maker par excellence has a further deal or two in his sights?

Under Wallis et al Communisis paid a gasp-inducing £42m for Centurion. No wonder Robert MacMillan is delighted to have him on board. HH's new chief financial officer Andrew Lipinski is also ex-Communisis.

Definitely one to watch.