The Donside saga appeared to be drawing to a close last week as a proposed management buyout collapsed.


Funding support was withdrawn on Thursday (26 July) after the value put on the plant and equipment was said to be well below the expected level.
The company will now close in one month, and the assets and site will be sold off separately.


Iain Bennet, joint receiver and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers,
said he was very disappointed by the latest turn of events.
This was our second attempt at an MBO. We were re-negotiating the deal, and the management team had additional backers. It was more than a little surprising to find out that the deal was not going to go through as planned.


The MBO, led by managing director Mike Duckett, had been in the offing since January after early attempts to find a buyer for the business failed.
Problems arose last month following the news that the company would need to spend 1.5m-2.5m on improving its treatment of effluent. The withdrawal of one of the backers followed (PrintWeek, 20 July).


Donside went into administrative receivership in December 2000 with the loss of 113 jobs.
Now 90 of its 256 staff will be retained for a month to finish off work in progress and assist the receivers in closing the mill.


These past two weeks were the final throw of the dice we have explored the market thoroughly. I am particularly disappointed on behalf of the workforce, who have been very supportive and kept mill production efficient. This will be devastating for them, said Bennet.


Story by Fay Schopen