News

Adare has confirmed the sale of its Prontaprint and KallKwik high-street print chains to Irish investment firm Boundary Capital.

Under the deal, which was signed yesterday (8 March), the Dublin firm has also acquired CJ Fallon, an Irish educational publisher.

However, Kalamazoo Security Print, the Birmingham-based security firm initially thought to be part of the sale, has not changed hands.

The value of the transaction has not been disclosed, although reports last month speculated that Boundary would pay Adare around £50m for the three companies.

Kall Kwik and Prontaprint, which together formed Adare's On Demand Communications (ODC) division, had been excluded in January from the group's rebrand under the single Adare name, and have been the subject of sell-off speculation since 2005.

Gary Verity, ODC managing director, will stay on in the same role following the sale, while Boundary Capital principal Kealan Lennon will join the boards of ODC and CJ Fallon as chairman.

Lennon said: "We have been following the Prontaprint and Kall Kwik businesses for some time and are delighted to have the opportunity to support the plans put forward by Verity."

Adare chief executive Robert Whiteside said: "Prontaprint and Kall Kwik are excellent businesses with new, top-class management teams driving their growth. They are both clear market leaders in their space and have a great future ahead of them.

"The primary reasons for the sale are that first, rolling such powerful SuperBrands under the Adare umbrella would have diluted the status of Prontaprint and Kall Kwik in their market and that secondly the franchise model, while hugely successful for the brands, is not aligned with the new shape of Adare and its strategy moving forward."

For more, see next week's PrintWeek.