Platinum Equity rumoured as Paperlinx suitor

Today’s Australian Financial Review reported Platinum Equity was behind what Paperlinx called an“incomplete, indicative, conditional and non-binding proposal”.

Platinum Equity would not confirm or deny the rumours. “We never discuss whether or not we’re considering prospective transactions and we don’t comment on market rumours either,” Platinum principal Mark Barnhill told ProPrint.

On 20 January, Paperlinx executive general manager corporate affairs James Orr told ProPrint the enquiries were “not an offer”, but “a proposal that’s been put that we advised the market of”.

However, today he refused to comment on the “speculative” Australian Financial Review article.

“We’ve got a proposal from a third party and the nature of that is confidential,” he said.

This would not be the first time Platinum had shown an interest in the printing space.

Last year, the Los Angeles-based firm bought Kodak’s Image Sensor Solutions business, desktop publisher Quark and UK company Contego Packaging Group.

It was also linked to a partial or full takeover of Manroland, though that did not take place.

Vice president Dan Whelan refused to comment on Platinum’s investment strategy, instead directing ProPrint to the company website.

Since being founded in 1995, the private equity fund had made more than 120 acquisitions in a diverse range of sectors including industrials, distribution, manufacturing, IT, telecommunications and media.

“Our sellers typically include corporate sellers shedding non-core assets, public sellers seeking to maximise shareholder value, or private sellers seeking capital and operational support,” it said.

Beulah Capital analyst Tom Elliott has previously predicted the mystery private equity firm would be foreign and most likely European.

He said it was plausible Platinum could be the firm, but there was no reason why it wouldn’t be any other private equity firm.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. All fields are required

Advertisement

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Advertisement