Blue Star Print Group  Pacific Print Group  printing - heatset web  mergers & acquisitions  printing - sheetfed 
Australian investment group, Gresham Private Equity, has paid NZ$220m (approx AUD $209m) for a 50 per cent stake in New Zealand’s expanding Pacific Print Group (PPG). According to PPG chairman Sandy Maier, the Gresham investment will assist the company’s growth strategy in Australia where further acquisitions are planned. “The board has now decided that further growth is most likely to come from across the Tasman, and will best be achieved by raising private equity,” says Maier.

PPG was established in 2002, and now operates seven printing businesses in New Zealand and three in Australia. From his northenr home in Gloucestershire in the UK, PPG founder, Geoff Wilding told Australian Printer that the acquisition of Agency Printing in Sydney had just been concluded with a settlement date of November 30, adding to the group’s two earlier Australian acquisitions, Graphic World Holdings in Sydney and Graphic Printworks in Melbourne which was acquired September 30.

Headquartered in the Auckland suburb of East Tamaki, PPG is now well funded to pursue other acquisitions in Australia, under Wilding’s direction. It already employs more than 700 staff on both sides of the Tasman, with annual turnover in excess of NZ$170m (approx AUD $161.52m). Whilst 65 per cent of sales are currently generated in New Zealand with Australia contributes the balance, that ratio is likely to sway in Australia’s favour in the near future as other acquisitions are concluded.

PPG is New Zealand’s largest sheetfed printer, and its second largest printing group overall, behind Blue Star Print Group which has substantial web offset printing facilities on both sides of the Tasman and has proven equally acquisitive in Australia in recent years.

Late last year, PPG successfully raised NZ$35m on New Zealand’s capital market in order to fund acquisitions in Australia and there was talk of an initial public offering (IPO) on the NZ stock market, but according to Maier, market conditions were not right for a share offer at this time, although, he said, an IPO remained a ‘long-term possibility’.

Commenting on Gresham’s substantial investment in the future of print, its managing director, Roy McKelvie says, “The changing dynamics of the printing industry have provided a clear opportunity for consolidation and we believe a leading market participant such as Pacific Print is very well placed to drive and capitalise on the process.

“It is a massively fragmented sector. It is still largely mom and pop,” says McKelvie. “There are 5000 of these businesses in Australia alone.”

Gresham Private Equity owns New Zealand retail appliance chain, Noel Leeming Group, and has shown considerable faith in print and trust in the business model developed by PPG which busy businesses and leaves them to be run by themselves, whilst achieving considerable cost savings through efficiencies of scale and operations.

Wilding owns 23 per cent of PPG with the rest is held by management.