Dudley Hollands told ProPrint he expected Northern Territory printers to profit from a surge in mining projects which he said could make Darwin the world’s biggest gas hub by 2020.
He said he was only selling Hollands Print Solutions because he was 70 and had had “a bit of a scare with cancer”.
The A2 business turns over $1 million per year and operates from a fully sealed and fully air-conditioned 1150sqm factory, according to Hollands.
“They reckon it’s one of the best printing factories in Australia for the size of the business and our position up here,” he said.
“We’ve got a good turnover and whoever takes it on has the opportunity to increase the turnover three- or four-fold.
“Whoever buys it can make money the first week. They don’t have to spend anything. We’ve got the latest equipment.”
Hollands said the successful bidder would inherit more than 500 customers and about 20 machines, including a Heidelberg GTO 46 and Sakurai 466.
He told ProPrint he had received two enquiries from Melbourne and one from Sydney. Two of the parties had been motivated by the impending resources boom, he added.
Hollands also expressed hope of receiving foreign enquiries after registering with an international broker.
He said 85% of the company’s revenue was generated locally, while the other 15% came from selling products like business cards, posters and books to overseas markets such as New Zealand, the US, the UK, Canada and South Africa.
The seven-staff outfit does work for Skycity casino, Independent Grocers, Territorian mines and also prints the defence force’s Top Ender magazine, he said.
Hollands, who founded the company in 1977, said one of his career highlights had come in 2000 when he visited East Timor shortly after it attained independence. He returned with a contract for US Aid, which included $250,000 worth of printing in the first week, he said.
He said another highlight had come in 1976 when he founded the Darwin Star and made it the first Territorian newspaper to be offset printed. The NT News was then produced on rotary letterpress, he added. Hollands said he had sold the Star in 1979, before it folded in 1982.
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