Jeminex expands WA interests

SYDNEY company, The Jeminex Group. is likely to float on the Australian Securities Exchange within two years following its acquisition of four industrial supply businesses, including three based in Perth. Jeminex is 60 per cent-owned by AMP Capital Investors and is the vehicle it has used to make private equity investments in a range of industrial business. Chaired by former Alesco Ltd chief executive Kevin Clarke, Jeminex has bolstered its ranks by appointing former Wesfarmers executive Mark Allison as its new chief executive. Mr Allison has previously been managing director of Wesfarmers Landmark and Wesfarmers CSBP. Jeminex’s latest acquisitions will lift its annual revenue to about $200 million and increase its earnings before interest and tax to about $20 million. Mr Clarke said Jeminex was aiming to make further acquisitions in 2007-08 and was seeking to double its turnover and earnings. “Clearly we are positioning the business so that a float is a realistic and attractive option,” he said. The latest acquisitions, with a total enterprise value of $40 million, include industrial packaging company Network Packaging and industrial workwear wholesaler Noble Agencies, both based in Canning Vale, Malaga-based electricity product supplier Bri-Tech, and Melbourne drilling service provider, Impact Drilling. “Each of these businesses has a strong track record of consistent earnings growth and represents a good strategic fit with our existing operations,” Mr Clarke said. Network will trade as a division of Canning Vale-based Heatley, another Perth business already owned by Jeminex. Apart from AMP, the major shareholders in Jeminex are Mr Clarke and its deputy chairman Geoff Heatley, who was the vendor of the Heatley business. Mr Clarke said about 60 per cent of the company’s turnover was in WA, with a strong exposure to the resources, energy and construction sector. Other companies owned by Jeminex are Sydney-based Australian Safety Specialists and Beaver, which supplies a range of lifting and rigging products. -Mark Beyer