APN And PMP Gloss Printing Outsourcing Agreement
News Release
19 October 2010
APN And PMP Gloss
Printing Outsourcing Agreement
APN today announces an
agreement has been reached with PMP Limited
whereby PMP
will become the exclusive provider of gloss
printing
services to APN under a long term (10 year)
contract in New Zealand.
The partnership with PMP comes
after a thorough review of all possible
options for APN's
heatset printing business, including attempts to
secure
joint venture and going concern sale alternatives.
The
decision follows the announcement in APN's 2009 full year
results
that New Zealand long run heatset printing
operations were no longer
core to the company's strategy
and had been treated as a discontinued
business.
APN's
Manukau plant will close at the end of November with about
150
staff affected. Consultation will start immediately
and support for
staff in terms of outplacement and other
counselling will be provided.
"Our staff have been very
supportive in working with the company and we
thank them
for their efforts," APN Publishing and Print CEO
Martin
Simons said.
"We would have preferred an
alternative that did not impact on the staff
in this way
but APN's own requirements for specialised gloss
printing
are not sufficient to justify continued
investment by APN in the
business."
He said there would
be limited opportunity for staff redeployment within
APN,
although some staff will continue working for up to three
months
decommissioning the plant.
PMP's core business
is printing and distribution and the company has
invested
in state of the art facilities. The arrangement with
PMP
ensures APN's publishing products continue to have
access to such
facilities.
Provision had also been made
with PMP for APN's external customers to
ensure their
printing needs are met. APN will be
immediately
discussing the effects of the close-down with
customers and various
suppliers.
Other areas of APN's
printing operations at Ellerslie and regional
sites
including Tauranga, which are predominately based
on daily and community
newspaper production, have not
been
affected.
-ends