About a decade ago, in the heyday of firm consolidation, giants such as American Express gobbled up several firms a month - and all of them weren't large; many were small, local firms just ripe for the picking. Although the consolidators were usually mum about their payouts, the formula then, in terms of valuing a firm, was about 1.5 times annual billings plus 10 percent, according to professional journals and research at that time. More recently, the economy has made the market tougher for consolidators and valuations have dropped as a result. Read more...