Well, yes and no.

The leading players have been outspoken on the need for consolidation in the web offset sector for some time, but even so, the fact that anyone managed to finance a deal in the current market is impressive.

On paper it looks like a win-win. Assuming the deal is approved by its shareholders, St Ives has managed to exit a commodity market and beefed up its war chest for more acquisitions. On that note, it’s presumably no coincidence that in its half-year results, it unveiled a new reporting structure of ‘print’ and ‘marketing services’ – no prizes for guessing which will benefit most from this bulging war chest.

Equally, Walstead has picked up a bit of a bargain, as Jo Francis highlights in her blog on the subject, in effect it has bought assets worth £35m for £20m – something its lender, RBS, was acutely aware of I’m sure – not to mention sales of £70m, catapulting the company to the head of the magazine market.

So, good news for all concerned. Kind of.

I think the most interesting implications of the deal will come to light in the coming months as I should imagine there are a fair few twitchy buyers out there concerned about the potential shift in the balance of power, wondering just how far the web offset worm is planning to turn.

Will web offset prices rise? Undoubtedly. Will this be the end of consolidation in the sector? Probably not. Should buyers be worried? Damn right.

Darryl Danielli, editor, PrintWeek