Yesterday, I posted an article – that
appeared in PrintWeek, on February 14th
– about SP UK being up for sale. Last
night, I received an e-mail from a SP UK team member indicating that a further
article had appeared in PrintWeek on
March 7th. That further
article appears below.
But, first, a few comments:
First, I’d like to thank the SP UK team member who
directed me to this article for taking the time to do so. In his/her e-mail, he/she said, “I haven’t seen
the full report, so not sure if headline is out of context, but it’s the most
negative thing I’ve seen so far. Quotes from within the article don’t
seem to refute the general tone of the piece either. Up until this article, the
official line has been ‘business as usual’. I’m not sure if this appeared
in the print version or just online, but it’s likely to raise the interest of
customers, suppliers and rivals alike, and not in a positive way.”
Second, in the article below, you’ll note that PrintWeek speculates that The Color
Company (TCC), the same company that purchased SP USA, will likely be the
purchaser of SP UK. To me, that would be
an extraordinary turn of events. If TCC
is the eventual purchaser of SP UK, it will be every interesting to see if
TCC’s Mr. Robert Feld plays the same role with regard to SP UK’s business that
he’s evidently playing with regard to TCC’s acquisition of SP USA’s
business. Mr. Feld’s very interesting, quite colorful
background has been well written about in the UK. That’s not the case here in the U.S., where
most of SP USA’s customers have ‘no clue’ as to the very colorful nature of Mr.
Feld’s background.
Third, although
the article did not state SP UK’s sales for 2013, it did state SP UK’s sales
for 2012 and 2011. At its 2012 sales – £40.4m (which is approximately $66 million USD at the current exchange
rate) – SP UK is
the largest reprographics business in the U.K. and one of the top five
reprographics businesses in the world. SP
UK has long been one of the most highly respected reprographics businesses on
planet Earth.
Okay, here’s the additional story that
appeared in PrintWeek on March 7th.
“”Service Point UK report reveals
“significant limitation””
By Jo Francis,
Friday 07 March 2014, writing for PrintWeek
Up-for-sale
Service Point UK has filed its overdue financial statements for 2012, with the
directors admitting a “significant limitation” on the period over which the
directors are able to consider the going concern status of the company, due to
events at its parent company.
Resolution to
Service Point UK situation anticipated this month
Service Point UK
provides reprographics and print management services via a nationwide branch
network. It employs around 550 staff. Lloyds Bank has a charge over Service
Point UK’s assets due to a cross-guarantee given by the Spanish company over
its €71.9m (£59.5m) debt with the bank.
The director’s
report stated: “… hence the directors are unable to control the strategic
future of the business or the manner in which its assets are employed. This
fact in itself imposes a significant limitation on the period over which the
directors are able to consider the going concern status of the company.”
GPP’s
administrator Ernst & Young is marketing the Service Point UK business for
sale, with any deal likely to be complicated by its pension deficit, stated as
£9.3m in the just-filed accounts.
Ernst &
Young said there was no update on the sale process at present, although PrintWeek
understands that a resolution to the situation is likely to be put in place
this month.
“The going
concern issues will drive the timeline on this,” said an industry source.
Service Point UK
managing director Michael Barton-Harvey issued a statement, which said: “All
parties involved are working exceptionally hard to support the best outcome
regards the current situation.”
Competitor The
Color Company, which acquired the assets of Service Point’s USA operations
after that business was closed down last year, has been tipped as a possible
purchaser for all or part of the business. PrintWeek was unable to reach
owner Elgin Loane for comment.
In the year to
31 December 2012 Service Point UK posted sales of £40.4m (2011: £44.9m).
Although the firm said it maintained its gross margin of 39%, a nominal operating
profit of £78,000 was wiped out by charges to the parent undertaking of
£989,000 and a £2.2m write-off of intercompany receivables due to the impact of
the bank calling in its debt.
The firm also
spent £652,000 on restructuring its operations, which included closing three
sites and reducing headcount by 70. The bottom-line loss was £3.5m.
However, the
report stated that subsequent trading in 2013 has resulted in a £1m-plus
improvement in operating profit at the firm.
Comments on this
article have been closed following a formal complaint.
This is where I found this article:
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Reprographics 101 