Andrew Pindar, chairman of the family-owned group, has instructed KPMG to find an investor or a buyer for the £55.3m turnover business, which employs around 480 people and has plants in Scarborough and Preston. Its facilities span web offset, sheetfed, and digital printing.
"I took a decision that the current shape and structure of the business isn’t sustainable. On that basis, I thought if the game’s going to change let’s drive it," Pindar told PrintWeek. "You either plan your pathway forward or sit and watch everything drift away. We have decided to take this course of action."
Earlier this year, the business secured fresh backing from HSBC and Pindar said he was hopeful about turning around the fortunes of the business, which posted a £1.9m pre-tax loss in the year to 30 September 2010.
However, he said that subsequent competitor behaviour in the market had made things "impossible".
"Having made the decision we decided to make this a rapid process as we didn’t want it to drag on. We’re a pretty good business that delights its customers and is good at what it does. People who are investors can see there’s an investable business here and we’re expecting to receive a number of bids during the week," added Pindar.
The deadline for indicative proposals is noon on Wednesday (6 July). Trade buyers from the continent and North America are understood to be among the interested parties.
The KPMG briefing note states that Pindar’s management team has created a ‘future state operating model’ plan to restructure the company, which would result in EBITDA next year of £6.6m.
"We wanted to show that this is an attractive business to invest in even at the poor prices in the market today, while being safe in our belief that prices will rise significantly," Pindar explained.
The firm also has a £19.5m deficit in its pension scheme that is likely to be a deterrent to potential investors, although Pindar said he did not view it as a deal-breaker. "How people analyse an investment is up to them, not me," he said.
The Agility multi-channel software business is not included in the deal, this could be sold separately. The Alphagraphics quick-print franchise is an entirely separate business and is not part of the strategic review.
