SPC sale: Workers to stay on and brands to grow, say new owners

The Goulburn Valley’s SPC plant has been sold for $40 million — and the new owners are planning some big changes.

New owners: SPC’s new owners The Shepparton Collective wants to build and grow new brands.

Coca-Cola Amatil has sold off its SPC fruit and vegetable processing plant to a private equity firm — Shepparton Partners Collective — for a bargain basement price of $40 million.

The Collective is a joint venture between Sydney private investment Perma Funds Management and The Eights, whose two partners are Voltaire and China’s largest independent wealth manager Noah Holdings.

Shepparton Collective Partners have promised to retain all permanent staff and grow the business, despite SPC struggling to make the processor viable.

Perma managing director Hussein Rifai confirmed “all permanent staff at SPC would be offered ongoing employment”, once the collective took ownership towards the end of this month.

“We believe there is enormous opportunity to grow this unique 100-year-old brand further domestically and internationally,” Mr Rifai said.

“The investments made by Coca-Cola Amatil over the years have ensured SPC represents the best of breed in equipment, safety and manufacturing standards and personnel.

“We need to focus on utilising SPC’s full capacity by creating new, innovative products and exploring new distribution channels.

“We will partner with and incentivise both staff and growers, with a view to forging a close-knit environment, encouraging creativity and harnessing the experience and expertise of an already impressive team.”

Shepparton MP Suzanna Sheed said she looked forward to meeting with SPC’s new management as soon as possible.

“The purchase by this private equity firm has come out of left field, but there were quite a few interested businesses in the mix,” Ms Sheed said.

“We hope the sustainability of SPC was one of the key considerations undertaken by Coca-Cola Amatil as part of the sale process. The (ASX statement) said all the right things, so it’s a case of ‘watch this space’.”

CCL group managing director Alison Watkins said the sale was good news for SPC and good news for the Goulburn Valley.

“Shepparton Partners Collective recognises the value of SPC’s brands, the opportunities for innovation and category growth in Australia, and its export potential,” Ms Watkins said.

SPC managing director Reg Weine, who will stay on at the company, said “in recent years we’ve grown our market share in tomatoes and we recently launched Australia’s first organic canned tomato.

“Our award-winning functional food range ProVital continues to grow and gain support with dietitians and our enhanced processing and automation capability has opened up new export markets.

“We’re proud of those achievements and we’re confident we can do more. On behalf of the team in Shepparton, thanks to Coca-Cola Amatil for their support and significant investment since 2005 and I look forward to working with Shepparton Partners Collective to pursue growth and innovation at SPC.”

CCL’s share price was up 1.5 per cent to $9.51 upon news of it finally selling the loss-making business, on which it estimates it will make a $10m to $15m profit.

In 2014 Victorian taxpayers pumped $22m into the plant, on the basis SPC continued employing at least 500 people at the plant.