Hannans look at Alexandria options

The Hannan family business is looking at its options for its prime $400m Alexandria real estate holding now that it has moved all its heatset business out to the new $130m Warwick Farm site.

The family has been printing in Alexandria since the 1970s, and in that time has created the most profitable print business in the country, second only in size to PMP. It began buying parts of what is now Sydney Corporate Park in 1985, and its Alexandria asset now weighs in at 143,000sqm. It was awarded best business park in NSW last year.

Hannan is now considering its options for the site, which include selling, restructuring or partnering. The Hannan family is famously self supporting when it comes to its business development, however it is now looking at the possibility of a partner for Alexandria. It has appointed Brookfield Financial as its advisor. However it decides to move with its property it will remain a key player in the printing industry.

Michael Hannan, executive chairman of IPMG. Says, “With the relocation of Hannanprint to Warwick Farm we now have a wonderful development opportunity on the Northern boundaries of Sydney Corporate Park. We will continue to be an investor in quality commercial property and, whilst recognising the inevitable need for rationalisation in the heat set printing industry, we intend to remain a long-term investor in the printing business.

“Whilst our preference has always been to own and develop our commercial property assets within family-owned entities, the time has come to accept that with the funds required to develop Sydney Corporate Park to its full potential, and for us to play a pivotal role in addressing the required rationalisation to assist us meet all our objectives in a shorter timeframe than would be possible if we were to do it all ourselves as a private family group.

Kevin Slaven, new CEO of IPMG says the company’s property assets are a buffer against the travails of print. He says,“The printing industry is clearly going through tough times and there is a significant amount of old equipment and overcapacity in the market IPMG is a privately owned diverse group of print, media and marketing services companies with the backing of significant property assets through the Hannan family ownership of Sydney Corporate Park, through the four sites it operates out of in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and through our Central Coast properties..

“We are positioned to be able to weather the issues facing the printing industry and come out on the other side in an even stronger position than we are in today. IPMG is fortunate to have the backing and financial support of the Hannan family to be able to navigate through this evolutionary phase of its printing investments as well as to have the opportunity to diversify the group’s portfolio of investments in quality media and marketing services.”

GO TO MORE AUSTRALIA NEWS