The 2012 financial year has concluded with most sectors in the large end of town consolidating or fielding offers from frequently unnamed suitors. Let’s hope they are not like the entity behind the recent bizarre offer on retailer DJ's who received a $1.65 billion bid from EB Private Equity on Friday. DJ’s shares subsequently jumped 20 per cent and just as quickly dropped 20 per cent when the offer was withdrawn. Maybe it was an end of financial year thing.
Anyway, back to the world of print.
Perhaps the biggest news of the year came last month with the announcement by Fairfax it will be closing down its Chullora and Tullamarine plants, moving to tabloid format, and with it shedding 1,900 jobs. It’s not so much the news, but the reason behind Fairfax’s announcement – the shift from print to digital. Some pundits are now predicting the demise of the major newspapers within five years.
Other major movements in the big end of town in June include:
- SEMA, Australia’s third largest transactional printer, appeared headed toward a management buy-out.
- The lack of news on TMA’s bid on Australia’s largest printer, PMP (six weeks has elapsed since they were identified)
- Amcor completed its acquisition of Aperio Group.
- Aust Post identified as the likely suitor of Salmat’s BPO division
- Colorpak announcing it would consolidate its Villawood plant into its Regent Park facility.
And at the start of July we had the unfolding news that Blue Star was fielding offers from a few unnamed sources.
It wasn’t just the big end of town in the news. We also saw:
- The end of the Sands Group, with their plant and equipment auction
- NSW print broker, Octopus Solution being would up, leaving with it a 1.6 million debt. The liquidator said the creditors would end up with nothing as the company had no assets. Readers may well question how a print broker can have a debt of that size.
- Kalamazoo NZ’s recent acquisition of K&M Print and Taieri Print
- Two unidentified sales of commercial printers by Ascent Partners in Melbourne
- North East Print and Copy acquiring Adelaide Image Printing
- In Melbourne, Worldwide Blackburn - creditor’s meeting for voluntary creditor’s liquidation
- In Queensland, ABC Printing’s client list sold to Print Approach.
The suppliers were also busy with Domino acquiring Graph Tech and Quark buying Mobile IQ.
Major Machinery
With Drupa winding up in May, one would have hoped that there would be more news on the machinery sales side. News was however limited to:
- Hannanprint purchasing a Ferag UniDrum 440 gatherer, stitcher trimmer
- PDQ labels (NSW) installing an Apex 1290 Digital Press
- Core Print (VIC) installing an Agfa Avalon N4 CtP unit
- JP Printing (VIC) purchasing a Heidelberg SX and SM 52 press
- K&B announcing they sold a 105-5 press to an unnamed Australian printer
- Xerox installing the 100th regional 800 /1000 press to Immij (VIC)
Further news on these major movement and machinery sales / installation stories can be downloaded from Ascent Partners web site, www.ascentpartners.com.au.
Here you can also find details of the current businesses we have for sale, including a highly profitable well-priced Southern Seaboard A1 printer.