Paper merchant Spicers is selling its Asian operations to Japan Pulp & Paper (JP), the same company that owns Ball & Doggett, its arch rival in Australian and New Zealand.
JP will pay Spicers some SGD$15m for the business - which is focused in Malaysia and Singapore - and Spicers will also keep the estimated SGD$7m in net cash currently held, and will receive the net proceeds of the sale of the Singapore property.
The Asian operations contributed some $2.2m to Spicers underlying EBIT in FY2018.
The sale of Asia represents the complete exit of Spicers from its ambitious overseas expansion plans, which saw the business lose hundreds of millions of dollars in Europe under its former PaperlinX entity. Spicers will now focus on its home markets of Australia and New Zealand.
David Martin, CEO of Spicers says, “I want to thank our team in Asia for their ongoing focus and professionalism in effectively executing on their strategies, and delivering strong results for the business. I wish them well for an exciting future as part of JP’s expanding Asian business upon completion of the transaction.
“The focus for our Australian and New Zealand businesses will be to continue to deliver on our promises. We have a strong business, , with great people, and there are many opportunities for us to further optimise our positions and maximise returns in our chosen market segments”