Stationery firm plans to merge Pelikan Holding AG Group and the Herlitz Group to reduce losses made by Herlitz.
The Star Online reported that Pelikan International Bhd has announced plans to consolidate its operations in Germany through the merging its two subsidiaries in the country – Pelikan Holding Group AG and Herlitz – in a bid to “cut the losses which are being made by the Herlitz Group on a standalone basis”.
Herlitz Group was acquired by Pelikan International in March 2010 and has since operated in Germany under its own management, administration and organisation, despite undergoing “some form of integration” with Pelikan in Poland and Benelux. However, the company posted net losses of €13.19 million ($17.9 million) at the end of 2012 – a further decline from 2011’s net losses of €9.82 million ($13.3 million).
As a result, Pelikan has written to the management of Herlitz Group stating that the current proposal to establish a JV company in order to merge the German operations of Pelikan and Herlitz “was taking too long to complete”. This would also see Pelikan taking over “all active services companies in the area of logistics” from Herlitz PBS, Herlitz Group’s German and Austrian stationery business unit.
In a statement, Pelikan said: “As Pelikan is also operating its own sales organisation for the German market under the Pelikan Holding AG Group, a 96.45 percent subsidiary of Pelikan, it is imperative for the Pelikan Group to integrate the entire German business, to enable the German operations to operate profitably and efficiently as one […] It will also enable the group to streamline its operation processes to bring more efficient and effective management and cost savings in the overall group administration.
“Such organisation structure will also be more adaptive to the market environment and aligned to its customer needs and hence, provide the group with more competitive edge”.