KEY POINTS:
Print company Pacific Print Group said today it has entered a conditional agreement to buy Australian printer Promentum for A$127 million ($145.7 million).
Pacific Print, half-owned by Australian investor Gresham Private Equity, will pay A$2.25 per share for Promentum, Australia's largest sheet-fed commercial printer with annual revenues of A$172m.
"This transaction accelerates the Trans-Tasman growth strategy that the group has been pursuing and creates the largest sheet-fed printing services group in Australia and New Zealand," said PPG chief executive Gordon Towell.
Promentum directors intended to vote in favour of the offer, in the absence of a higher offer, and subject to an independent expert's report.
The company employs about 700 staff and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
PPG said the two companies had complementary customer segments, operations and corporate structure.
Promentum shareholders will vote on the offer after receiving the independent report, expected in late February or early March. If successful, Promentum will become a wholly owned subsidiary of PPG.
Five-year-old Pacific Print is not listed on NZX but its debt is. The company, New Zealand's largest exclusively sheet-fed commercial print organisation and its second largest printing group, employs more than 700 staff and has an annual turnover of over $170m.
- NZPA
