Richina Pacific have signed a conditional agreement to sell their New Zealand semi-processed leather business, Colyer Mair, to Lowe Corporation of Hastings.
Richina initially indicated that they were interested in selling Colyer Mair to Lowe at the end of July (see Leather International, August).
The purchase, which will give Lowe another 20% share of the national leather industry, has been approved by the Commerce Commission. The purchase price, in cash, will depend on Colyer Mair’s working capital at settlement.
* Richina have also announced a huge increase in profits for the half year ended June 30, 2001. After-tax profit rose to US$7.03 million compared to US$2.04 million for the same period of the previous year.
Richina are beginning to benefit from their acquisition of China’s second biggest tannery. The company are also opening a third operation at the Shanghai tannery to focus on leather upholstery using mainly bovine leather. Revenue from the tannery in the half more than doubled to US$107.5 million.
