Pacmags Top Nz Printer
The Age
Monday May 10, 1993
News Corporation's offshoot Pacific Magazines & Printing will become New Zealand's biggest commercial printer after buying Adams Print for between $NZ10million and $NZ20million ($A7.7million and $A15.4million).
The purchase, from News's 51 per cent-owned Independent Newspapers, gives PacMags a stronger base for expansion in both NZ and Australia.
The deal provides for PacMags to print the `Geelong Advertiser' and other newspapers published by Independent's subsidiary Geelong Advertiser and Independent. PacMags said this would enable the `Geelong Advertiser' (average circulation 32,000) to move quickly to four-color printing.
Adams Print adds magazine, newspaper and catalogue printing plants in Wellington and Christchurch to printing plants in Auckland and Christchurch operated by Bascands, which PacMags bought late last year.
Annual revenues of the combined group will be about $NZ50million.
PacMags also bought 50 per cent of a catalogue distributor, Circular Distributors, last year.
Analysts said the deal would help PacMags exploit growth opportunities on three fronts in NZ.
It could pick up some of the printing of Mr Kerry Packer's Australian Consolidated Press titles in NZ when they came up for tender; it could pick up the contract to print telephone directories; and it could strengthen its catalogue distribution business by doing the printing as well.
Adams will continue to print the magazines published by Independent.
The deal is subject to due diligence and will take effect from 1 July.
An existing contract for Independent's Gordon & Gotch division to distribute PacMags' magazines in Australia and New Zealand would also be extended by several years, PacMags' finance director, Mr David Skelton, said.
PacMags recently added to its line-up of magazine titles (`New Idea', `TV Week', `Australasian Post', `Home Beautiful' and `Your Garden') by buying Attic Futura publications (`Girlfriend', `TV Hits' and `Hot Metal').
Mr Skelton said PacMags' aggressive expansion was partly a response to criticism when it floated in January last year that it had low growth prospects. He said the company would spend ``a couple of million" upgrading its Geelong printing plant to accommodate the `Geelong Advertiser'.
© 1993 The Age
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