Focus director Darrell Price told ProPrint that the deal, which is expected to be completed and take effect from today (30 November), will see the Australian merchant retain much of its autonomy. He said there wouldn’t be any changes to the company name, workforce or operations.

“The best thing about it is Focus Paper will remain Focus Paper,” he said.

“We will have access to more products, and we’ll be bigger and stronger and able to take on the big boys like Paperlinx.”

He added that all current directors of Focus will have a financial stake in the new company, though would not comment on what size this stake would be.

“We see it as an alliance that was too good to refuse. They made an offer that we’ve taken where we’re still able to keep some ownership,” he said.

Price said that the deal would allow BJ Ball further reach into the Australian market.

Focus staff have today been informed of the deal, which involves Maui, BJ Ball and Australian-based paper agency Kirby Paper. Kirby is fully owned by BJ Ball, which in turn is 80% owned by Maui.

BJ Ball is the largest paper merchant in New Zealand with annual sales in excess of NZ$300m (A$232m). Maui took an 80% stake in the company last month, with the remaining 20% owned by BJ Ball’s management team.

Maui and BJ Ball could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

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