It was the night before Christmas - the Offset Alpine fire
Revelations given to a Swiss court by Rene Rivkin have thrown fresh light on the mysterious circumstances surrounding one of Sydney’s most notorious printing industry fires. Summoned for examination in the investigation of suspected multi-million dollar fraud by the former head of private banking at Bank Leumi, Ernst Imfeld, Rivkin admitted to being the secret owner, along with former Channel Nine identity, Trevor Kennedy and former NSW politician Graham Richardson, of a controlling shareholding in the printing company.
According to a scoop by the Australian Financial Review the identity of the shareholders was withheld by the Swiss banks from the ASIC for many years, stymieing its investigation into the fire. It is now revealed that the three were the prime movers in buying the company from Kerry Packer’s Australian Consolidated Press, which had acquired it from prominent Sydney printing family, the Hacketts The company was founded by Ron Hackett in the 1930s and was still run by his son, also Ron, after ACP’s takeover.
Offsett Alpine was almost unique in having an expensive new for old insurance policy. This delivered a massive windfall of $53.2 million to the new owners after the Silverwater building burned down in a fire that started at 11.00pm on Christmas Eve, 1993. The plant was worth only $4 million, but the insurance cover was for $53 million, which included $42 million to replace the printing plant.
Immediately the extent of the insurance cover became known, the stock market value of the company rose. The reborn and requipped enterprise was sold 18 months later to Arklow Pty Ltd, a joint venture between Michael Hannan’s group and John B Fairfax’s Marinya Holdings, subsequently transformed into IPMG, for $2.70 a share. Six months before the fire, the shares of the company, then known as Stroika, were trading at around 14 cents each.
According to the report a number of Sydney investors, many associated with Channel Nine, including Sam Chislom, and Ray Martin and his wife, bought into the company in the weeks before the fire. Even the then Governor-General Bill Hayden at some stage bought shares. Rodney Adler of HIH Insurance notoriety bought nine per cent of the company two days before the fire. His insurance company, FAI, had some coverage of the insurance risk, but he made much more by owning the stock.
No definite cause of the fire has ever been established and inquiries to the Fire Investigation Unit of the NSW Fire Service reveal they are under instructions not to release any documents concerning the case to the public.
Rising like a phoenix from the ashes
The old pre-fire printing company was producing magazines for ACP on some fairly ancient presses. Following the fire the company re-located and re-equipped with two top-of-the-range multi-million dollar M600 Heidelberg web presses (it now has six) and two Speedmaster 102 sheetfed presses. In addition it installed a completely new automated finishing system. In short, it used the insurance payout to transform itself into a state-of-the-art printing company.
Since then Offset Alpine has gone from strength to strength, becoming a CTP pioneer and an established gold award winner at the National Print Awards. Garth Hackett, sales manager and son of the founding family, recently travelled to New York representing the company at the Sappi Printer of the Year Awards.
Revelations given to a Swiss court by Rene Rivkin have thrown fresh light on the mysterious circumstances surrounding one of Sydney’s most notorious printing industry fires. Summoned for examination in the investigation of suspected multi-million dollar fraud by the former head of private banking at Bank Leumi, Ernst Imfeld, Rivkin admitted to being the secret owner, along with former Channel Nine identity, Trevor Kennedy and former NSW politician Graham Richardson, of a controlling shareholding in the printing company.No definite cause of the fire has ever been established and inquiries to the Fire Investigation Unit of the NSW Fire Service reveal they are under instructions not to release any documents concerning the case to the public.
Rising like a phoenix from the ashes
The old pre-fire printing company was producing magazines for ACP on some fairly ancient presses. Following the fire the company re-located and re-equipped with two top-of-the-range multi-million dollar M600 Heidelberg web presses (it now has six) and two Speedmaster 102 sheetfed presses. In addition it installed a completely new automated finishing system. In short, it used the insurance payout to transform itself into a state-of-the-art printing company.
Since then Offset Alpine has gone from strength to strength, becoming a CTP pioneer and an established gold award winner at the National Print Awards. Garth Hackett, sales manager and son of the founding family, recently travelled to New York representing the company at the Sappi Printer of the Year Awards.