Pact Group will delist from the ASX on Wednesday 16 July, the move being the culmination of executive chair and owner Raphael Geminder’s near two-year bid to take full control of the company.
Shareholders have until Monday (14 July) to sell their stock on the ASX, after which trading will be suspended until the delisting occurs. Geminder warned recalcitrant shareholders during his attempt to buy at least 90 per cent of the company’s shares that he would delist if he was unsuccessful.
For the financial year just ended, Pact has seen its full year revenue from continuing operations rise by 1.1 per cent on the prior year, according to its unaudited figures. Revenue for the year was $1.8bn. The rise was driven by increased volumes in its Materials Handling & Pooling segment. Pact will release its audited results on 21 August.
The unaudited results show that underlying EBITDA rose by 1.6 per cent, or $4m, to $249.1m, with underlying EBIT up by 1.5 per cent or $2.1m to $138.5m. The company said its cost-saving Transformation Plan, which it instigated at the start of the financial year, is partly responsible for the uptick.
Net debt for the group rose by 18.4 per cent, $77.2m, to $496.1m, as the company continued its capital asset investment programme, and settled tax obligations arising from the divestment of the Crates Business completed in November 2023.
Pact is continuing its review of the Asian packaging and closures business (which forms part of the Packaging & Sustainability segment), including the potential divestment of that business. It has not made any decision in relation to its Asian packaging and closures business, and said there is no certainty that it will proceed with any transaction.
The long running dispute between Pact and the former owners of coat hangers and retail security tags company TIC Retail Accessories has been given a court date; it will be held in Victoria’s Supreme Court in December.
Former TIC owners David Harris and Mark Gandur are in dispute with Geminder over a $30m earn out payment for their business, which they sold to Pact in 2018. The duo were partly responsible for Geminder falling short of the 90 per cent mark in his bid to take full control of Pact; they spent $4m buying six per cent of the company’s shares during the bid process, in what turned out to be a successful attempt to block his plan to own more than 90 per cent of the shares.
