Print group Opus has exited the ASX and will be relisting on the Hong Kong stock market, as the assets in the group have been transferred to Left Field Print Group in a three for one share deal.
Current Opus Group executive chairman Richard Celarc will become executive chairman of Left Field Print Group. He will have the largest individual shareholding in the group, with Lion Rock Group the controlling shareholder.
Trading as TopCo the Left Field Print Group listing in Hong Kong will enable Opus to raise capital, with the company saying it will be making major investments in plant and equipment for its Australian business over the next two years. It will also provide higher liquidity to its shares.
Speaking to Print21 Richard Celarc said, “There is a good appetite for investing in print on the Hong Kong market, with excellent share trading and capital raising.”
Left Field Print Group – which will be domiciled in Bermuda – is 75 per cent owned by Hong Kong based Lion Rock, which also owns 1010 Print Group.
Opus owns book printers McPherson's and Ligare, and major government print provider CanPrint, which also operates in the commercial sector. Celarc says, “From the board’s perspective, it is business as usual for all of our printing business in Australia.”
The company's share price on the ASX has stayed within the 30c-45c band for the past five years. Its price on departure from the ASX was 43.5c, up 3.7 per cent on the day.
The latest Opus figures – the last on the ASX - showed its profit almost doubling in its first half, profit after tax almost doubling to $6.3m, with the company saying its book printing activity was the reason. Sales slipped by two per cent to $38.8m.