Proventus provided Polestar with a £90m loan just seven months ago and is one of Polestar’s major lenders. It will inject an undisclosed amount of extra funding into Polestar as part of the deal
However, the details of the takeover are still being finalised, and an announcement from Polestar said it was “conditional on other lenders giving their approval”. Polestar said that the terms would remain confidential.
“Proventus need to be in the driving seat to try and get as much of their money back as they can,” said a source close to the situation. “If they took the loss on this just a few months after getting involved it would be disastrous for them.”
Proventus Capital Partners chief executive Daniel Sachs said his team would work with Polestar to “deliver sustainable and market-leading print services in all its business arenas, and by restoring operations to normal, secure the business for all stakeholders.”
The announcement also acknowledged that Polestar had “recently experienced financial difficulties”. A secret Deloitte report seen by the Sunday Times had warned that the group could have run out of cash at Christmas.
PrintWeek understands that major suppliers to the business are being contacted and asked for their “help and support” during the transition.
Chief executive Barry Hibbert remains at the helm of the £216.4m turnover group.
In a statement he said: “The fact that Proventus Capital Partners aim to take control of our group and support the operation with additional financing is very good news.
“I would at this time also like to thank all our stakeholders and especially our customers and suppliers for the support they have given while the final points of the deal were finalised. In addition, all our employees have been outstanding in this period and their focus has ensured another successful completion of the Christmas listings.”
Polestar and its print partners, including Prinovis Liverpool, have just completed the huge production project to produce the Christmas editions of the weekly TV magazines.
The deal has echoes of the situation four-and-a-half years ago, when Sun Capital Partners took control of Polestar from previous owners BlueBay Asset Management, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and RBS, after the group faced a similar cash crisis.
One rival print boss commented: "The question now is, how do they restructure Polestar so future earnings cover future liabilities?"
Yesterday, Wyndeham Group owner Walstead Investments said it would be wiling to make a bid for Polestar. Chairman Mark Scanlon was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
