APN told ProPrint the Manukau plant will close on 30 November and all equipment will be decommissioned. The staff, believed to number 150, will receive redundancies.
“We decided heatset printing was non-core to our activities and future investment as a media company,” said Martin Simons, chief executive of APN Publishing and Print.
The Manukau plant has long been “treated as a discontinued business for accounting purposes”, according to APN.
“As noted in APN’s 2009 full-year results, New Zealand gloss printing operations are no longer core to the company’s strategy,” the media giant said.
“After full consideration of other options, it has been decided to close APN’s Manukau plant and, unfortunately for staff, outsource gloss printing requirements. This new arrangement provides APN with a long-term cost efficient solution to its gloss printing needs in New Zealand.”
The 10-year exclusive contract with PMP covers APN’s national magazines portfolio – including New Zealand Women’s Weekly, Listener, and Crème – and the gloss magazines and property guides inserted into its newspapers, such as the flagship NZ Morning Herald.
APN chief executive Brendan Hopkins said the new arrangement with PMP “allows APN to focus on delivering high-quality multimedia products to its customers in the most efficient manner with a proven supplier”.
PMP chief executive Richard Allely described the contract win as “a vote of confidence in the capabilities of the PMP New Zealand team”.
“We are delighted to be considered the best option for this large contract and look forward to a long-term relationship with APN.”
PMP told ProPrint earlier this year that it was looking to take expand its presence in the New Zealand sheetfed market, having upgraded its PMP Maxum site in the Auckland suburb of Mount Wellington.
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