Sustainable packaging and resource recovery leader Visy has announced the acquisition of privately owned supplier and distributor Zenexus for an undisclosed fee.
The purchase appears to be an astute piece of business with the merger expected to add around $170 million to Visy’s annual revenues.
Zenexus supplies and distributes moving and storage boxes, major brand hardware and retail products, counting household names such as Wrap & Move, RackIt and FlexiStorage amongst its product offerings.
The company sells its products exclusively through Bunnings and United Kingdom operation HomeBase. There are no plans to change or discontinue any of Zenexus’ products and they will continue to be sold through Bunnings and HomeBase.
Visy Executive Chairman Anthony Pratt said the purchase would allow the business to “join our sister company Pratt Industries in the US with a dedicated, retail-facing business unit called Visy Retail Services.”
Rodney Sutton, Managing Director of Zenexus, will join Visy Retail Services as General Manager with an initial focus on integrating Zenexus into Visy.
Zenexus’ 160 employees will all move into roles within Visy Retail Services.
Visy has enjoyed major success in recent years, with Mr Pratt announcing last year he would spend $7.5 billion on expanding operations in the United States over the next decade.
He has also led a huge push for sustainable operations in Australia, beginning a $2 billion spend on new clean energy plants, increasing the recycled content of bottles and reducing water use in the same period.
Speaking to The Australian in February, he called the projects his “green mission” and vowed to continue finding ways to fight climate change while remaining profitable.
“We have that mission that is aligned with and rooted to not only ecologically favourable things but is also consistent with cost reduction, which makes it sustainable, not just ecologically but economically,” he said.
“Every tonne we divert from landfill, it avoids slightly more tonnes of carbon dioxide. As things decay in landfill they emit methane, which is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 25-year period.
“As a result, landfills emit more greenhouse gases than global aviation.
“So that’s the articulated mission that was accompanied by about $9 billion of investment that we have done since 2005 that was behind this vision.”
Mr Pratt also oversees his own fleet of trucks, “probably the third largest trucking company in Australia,” which he is now aiming to convert to electric vehicles in a further push toward sustainability.
“I believe we are probably the third largest trucking company in Australia. And what I’m intending to do is electrify our entire fleet, which is obviously good for, say, reducing methane,” he told The Australian.
“It is all part of our green mission.”
News Source: www.skynews.com.au
