CHAMP PE seeks exit from New Zealand’s Blue Star
CHAMP Private Equity-owned Blue Star has suspended trading on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in anticipation of an announcement that the business is up for sale. It comes after the struggling communications company said in June that it had won the support of senior lenders to review a whole or partial sale.
A company spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that Goldman Sachs has been appointed to manage the process.
CHAMP acquired an 84% stake in Blue Star for NZ$385 million ($308 million) in 2006. In March 2011, it made an additional capital contribution of an undisclosed amount. Later in the year the private equity firm supported a restructuring package for Blue Star that saw bondholders agree to write off NZ$32.5 million of interest on their $105 million worth of bonds. This allowed the company more time to repay its NZ$195 million in outstanding debt.
Nat Childres, a CHAMP representative, noted at the time that the private equity firm was already NZ$175 million down on its initial investment in Blue Star.
The company, which offers printing, direct mail and design services, warned earlier this year that trading conditions remain extremely difficult, adding that it was unsure what value, if any, to attach to its outstanding bonds.
Blue Star recorded a 4.4% decline in sales revenue to NZ$280.3 million for the six months ended December 2011. EBITDA for the same period came to NZ$20.7 million, leaving the firm a lot of ground to make up to reach its previous full-year guidance of NZ$53.6 million.
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