The Malaysian owners of Sydney-based packaging printer Anzpac will cease all printing operations and sell off most of the company's assets including equipment.
Tien Wah Press Holdings, which owns a controlling 51 percent stake in Anzpac, announced to the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange that it would stop printing at Anzpac's Smithfield site; sell off most of its assets, excluding furniture, land, buildings and computers; and settle all liabilities by September 30, 2017:
The Group had initiated the transfer of production volume of Gravure Printing since September 2014 from Anzpac to its existing operation in Vietnam, i.e. Alliance Print Technologies Co., Ltd (463043000165) (“APT”). The above was with a view to improve the Group’s strategic position to service the customers and reduce the Group’s operating cost over the longer term. After the transfer of the production volume to APT, and despite Anzpac management’s efforts to reorganise Anzpac’s remaining lithography printing business in its non-tobacco customers, the Board is of the view that Anzpac’s business is no longer viable or sustainable, the announcement read.
TWPH will retain the land and buildings to generate rental income, but may sell those off as well at a later date. It estimates the cessation of operations will cost more than $9.5 million AUD, including $6.2 million in redundancies and related costs for the 69 employees it predicts will lose their jobs as a result of the move.