It was a good idea – perhaps even a great idea – but now Blue Star and Hannanprint are back to competing for the same business in the same crowded market.
A joint venture proposal which would have merged IPMG’s printing operations with Blue Star – and on which the two signed heads of agreement in March – has been abandoned. The two are Australia’s second and third largest commercial printing businesses, behind PMP.
An official statement says both parties “acknowledge that the benefits of merging these businesses are significant and that there is a need for meaningful industry rationalisation”.
But they say they have realised during the due diligence process, “that the cost to rationalise the businesses and the risks associated with the implementation outweigh the expected benefits”.
Recent days have seen Blue Star’s purchase of mailing house iGroup Australia and the completion of its purchase of STI Group, where commercial print interests are likely to be consolidated and point of sale developed.