Worldwide Online Sydney equipment for auction

Franchise printing hub in administration is selling offset presses next week on Grays Online.

Uncertainty surrounds the sale of the Worldwide Online franchise as the administrators, McGrathNicol assess interest in the failed business. Following the release of administration documents last week, bidders are discovering the extent of the sale.

At the same time a number of single and two-colour offset presses from WWOL are going to auction next Tuesday. Larger presses were reported to have been sold by private treaty. The presses were from the Sydney manufacturing hub, which was once an integral part of the franchise hub-and-spoke business model. Industry reports are that the hubs have closed but this cannot be confirmed.

The franchisor company of WWOL went into administration some weeks ago. Owned by private equity company Nevis Partners, the Perth-based business provided IT, marketing and general business support to 85 franchisees throughout Australia. It also operated four manufacturing hubs – Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. The new business model will rely on outsourced manufacturing.

(It should be emphasized that the individual franchise operations of WWOL are privately owned and continue to trade, although obviously the failure of the franchisor is having an impact.)

The franchise reported a turnover of $50 million and is expected to attract plenty of interest.