Blue Star snaps up Geon labels unit out of receivership

Blue Star Group, the revitalised printing operation under new ownership, has bought a New Zealand labels unit from the receivers of ailing rival Geon Group.

The sale was completed yesterday and will see the transfer of 38 Geon employees and their entitlements to Blue Star, receivers Andrew Grenfell and William Black of McGrathNicol said in a statement. No price was disclosed, and the receivers are looking for buyers for the remainder of Geon's New Zealand businesses by the end of the week.

"This is a very pleasing outcome and enables the labels business to transition out of receivership under new ownership, which will provide stability for customers and employees," the receivers said.

Geon was placed in receivership last month after private equity firms KKR and Allegro mopped up the Australasian printing group's debt, taking control of the company. Geon was formed by the 2007 merger of Pacific Print Group and Promentum.

Printing companies have been struggling in recent years as publishers look for new ways to cut costs in an environment where more readers are shifting on-line.

Blue Star went through its own turmoil in recent years and was eventually bought by Australian private equity firm Mercury Capital and former owner Tom Sturgess from Champ Private Equity, who swallowed a $173 million writedown in goodwill.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Bond Offer: Infratil Ltd, 7.2 year & 10.2 year unsecured unsubordinated bond

Comments from our readers

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Anti-spam verification:

Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

NZ dollar mixed, buffeted by Fed talk and downunder data
Super Fund can expect lower returns over next decade - review
ANALYSIS: Should penalties for continuous disclosure breaches be relaxed?
Fletcher seeks urgent talks on Ihumatao stalemate
NZ economy grows 0.5% in June quarter, beating expectations
Restaurant Brands lifts 2Q sales; appetite for KFC offsets ditched Starbucks
Auckland jet fuel arrangements a potential barrier to new entrants
NZ dollar weaker after Fed split on outlook for further US cuts
Leading judge says court administration model 'outdated'
MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares fall; Goodman placement sees property stocks sold