Receivers McGrath Nicol announced yesterday that they had reached an "in principle" agreement to sell the Bassendean plant to a management buyout (MBO) team led by Smith.
"McGrathNicol conducted an extensive campaign to sell all of the Geon businesses and received a high level of interest in the Perth operations," said the receivers.
"The sale of the Perth operations reflects the strong historical performance of the business, known as Advance Press, before it was acquired by Geon. Smith was general manager under the previous ownership."
McGrath Nicol partner James Thackray said the receivers had worked hard to keep Perth running smoothly since Geon collapsed on 21 February.
"There were a number of bidders who submitted offers that clearly understood the value in the Geon business in Western Australia. The management offer represents the best value for all stakeholders," he said.
"Pleasingly, most of the 63 employees will retain their jobs at the Bassendean offset and digital printing facility. Customers and suppliers will be advised of the sale in due course, which is expected to complete shortly."
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ProPrint understands that Smith has been negotiating to buy the business for several weeks.
However, it is thought that the MBO could only go ahead if it secured the support of the paper merchants, which had previously said they would not supply new owners of Geon who were connected to the former company unless pre-existing debts were paid.
Both of Western Australia's major paper suppliers, BJ Ball and Spicers, made this position clear when Geon fell into insolvency four weeks ago.
Spicers said in a statement: “For any instance of a client being placed into receivership, Spicers has maintained a consistent position relating to the criteria that would need to be satisfied for it to enter into any discussions with a future entity on the supply of paper.
"These criteria include, but are not limited to, clarity on the ownership and capitalisation of the future entity and an arrangement relating to the repayment of pre-insolvency debt. This position has not changed.”
At time of writing, ProPrint had been unable to make contact with BJ Ball or Smith.
The sale of Bassendean leaves Hobart as the only one of Geon's 18 sites still in the hands of the receivers, though ProPrint understands that a deal is imminent.
The Queensland business was closed on 4 March, with Blue Star acquiring the rest of the east coast operations on 5 March.
Across the Tasman, Blue Star New Zealand acquired Geon's Christchurch-based labels business on 4 March and the rest of its New Zealand fixed assets on 15 March.
[Related: Ups and downs of Geon]
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