The deal could be the largest in a series of transactions made by PMG to take over Moore’s existing and former interests, including the April buyout of Moore’s West Australian business for $450,000, and last year’s takeover of Paragon Printing, Moore’s former printing arm in Wodonga, following a prolonged administration.
Moore remains in administration with advisory firm McGrath Nicol, however the company’s order book, IT systems, infrastructure and some staff will be shifted to PMG.
A spokesperson from McGrath Nicol told ProPrint that there was “more than one” bid for the company, adding that PMG had come out as the “preferred bidder” following this competitive sales process.
Moore’s fate is due to be decided at a second creditors meeting at the start of July, he added.
The administrators would not shed any light on the size of Moore’s debts. However, in its half-year results reported to the ASX at the end of February, it revealed a net liability position of $2m.
PMG said it was planning to keep “around 50-60%” of Moore’s workers, currently numbering around 40.
Lisa Stark, PMG’s general manager of sales and marketing, described the buyout as a “big win” for the corporate print specialist. She said it would give PMG the opportunity to push further into the Queensland and Tasmanian markets.
“All the agreements have been signed and our focus is now on speaking to Moore’s customers, who have been through torture in the past couple of months,” she said
“To have the infrastructure in Queensland and Tasmania will be a big boost for us, as they are the last pieces in the puzzle for PMG.”
Stark added that the next challenge would be integrating Moore’s business into PMG, but was confident they could replicate the successful integration of Moore’s WA division.
PMG managing director Leo Moio is a 40.9% stakeholder in Moore as well as being a director of the publicly listed company, which has been suspended from trading since entering administration.
Moore’s board also comprises fellow director John Robert Lee, chief executive Ralph Stonell and non-executive chairman David Paterson.
Last month, Stonell put Moore’s administration down to a series of poor financial results.
“Losses created uncertainty and the uncertainty caused us to lose the support of clients who weren’t sure if we would be around in the future; hence us losing major contracts with Tabcorp and Australian Air Express,” he said.
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