Franchise war heats up with Worldwide buyout

Western Australia hub operator, Arnold Whiteside, picks up 75 Worldwide Online franchisees from administrators.

According to a statement from voluntary administrators, McGrath Nicol, an agreement has been reached for the conditional sale of the national Worldwide franchisor business to Doublewest.

Doublewest is associated with Crystal Printing Solutions (which trades as Worldwide Online Printing Cannington) and managed by Arnold Whiteside. The WA business took on from Worldwide’s manufacturing hub not long after it entered administration.

The sale is expected to be completed on 1 July this year. Once the sale is completed, Crystal Printing Solutions will remain the exclusive supplier to the Worldwide network, forming strategic supply partnerships with other manufacturers.According to a spokesperson from McGrath Nicol, Doublewest was not the only party to make a move for Worldwide Onlibe. “There was certainly considerable interest from other players,” said the spokesperson. “It was a competitive process right to the end.”

The McGrath Nicol spokesperson sees the sale as a positive result. “The feedback we’ve had from the franchise network has been very positive. Our view is that this is a terrific outcome; we have managed to sell the business in a difficult time for the industry.”

Industry sources, however, claim that up to 20 of the Worldwide franchise centres are up to be renewed. Western Australia has become a mecca for hub printing, with the Snap Printing headquarters also located within the state. The renewal of Worldwide Online is set to spark strong competition between the players and marks an interesting time for the industry. This week, John Stangeland (formerly of Worldwide Online) announced that he would be bringing Printing.com to Australia and is looking for franchisees.

Worldwide Online’s Perth-based head quarters went into administration in February this year.