According to the AFR the trio comprising Bank of New Zealand, CBA, and the Royal Bank of Scotland are in serious talks with the company and its owner Champ Private Equity.

Blue Star has been feeling the pain of the printing industry for a while, and only escaped receivership less than a year ago thanks to a controversial funding package agreed by its bondholders, and by the banks extending their $195m facility.

Blue Star has reported an operating loss of $15.6m for the first half of this year, $9.3m more than the previous corresponding period last year. Sales revenue for the six months was $280.3m, some $13m less than 2010’s result for the same period.

In a report to bondholders, Blue Star says “The three months ended March 31, 2012, saw a continuation of the difficult trading conditions that have affected the printing industry over the past several years and the business expects these conditions to continue over the balance of the financial year.”

Blue Star’s earnings before interest and taxes of $20.7m was marginally lower than the previous year’s $24m as the group continued to see decline in sales which saw a 4.4 per cent drop compared to the previous year.

Blue Star operates webfed sheetfed and digital business on both sides of the Tasman. It has been owned by Champ since 2007, when the p/e fund paid NZ$385m for it from Pacific Equity Partners, which created the group by buying printers and consolidating them, providing a windfall to the owners of the print businesses in question.

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