Focus equipment on sale

The equipment from the fallen Focus Press is up for grabs via online auction, with bids coming in for a range of printing and finishing machines, vehicles and office gear, some of them due to sell on Tuesday afternoon.

The most expensive item on offer, a 2009 Komori Lithrone LS-529 with a starting price of $250,000 is yet to pick up its first bid; it has until 2pm to find a buyer on the Grays Online website.

While Focus buyer Mark Shergill had originally planned to pick up much of the kit, he says the deal fell through after the situation became ‘too messy’. Having to renegotiate every time a new receiver was appointed but never reaching an agreement means he will have to join the bidding.

The assets, including a long list of equipment and the Matraville and Strathfield South plants, will be auctioned to help pay more than $27.3m in Focus debt. It is believed David Fuller’s home has already been sold.

The kit includes a 2007 Komori Lithrone LS-529 five-colour press, however not all of the Focus gear is up for auction.

Among the missing machines is the damaged KBA Rapida 105 12-colour press, subject of a $12.9m insurance claim. Also out, a Heidelberg XL75 10-colour press from the Matraville plant, two SG350 saddle stitchers and a Polar 135 finishing set that will be retained by Heidelberg Print Finance for a separate sale.

Australian auctioneer GraysOnline will handle the sale of smaller assets such as office equipment and minor printing gear, and provide local logistical support with Thomas Industries. The Matraville and Strathfield South plants will be sold by CBRE at a future date.

Four sets of liquidators and receiver managers are now in recovery mode for various banks and stakeholder parties, with Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants acting as the original liquidators for the Sydney and Canberra operations, alongside Holzman & Associates for Wollongong.

The Commonwealth Bank has appointed Cor Cordis as receiver managers to chase its $2.1m, superseded by the NAB’s appointment of McGrath Nichols to recover a cool $4.5m.

The other more than 200 creditors will have to wait for the scraps once the banks claim their due.

The former Focus Strathfield South plant is now deserted, with production moved to other parts of Shergill’s business while liquidators sell off the assets.

Shergill says he is accommodating the extra production by using under capacity at his other sites, and moving consumables storage into shipping containers at the nearby Sydney Print Warehouse to clear space for new kit.

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