Borg bid to buy Alpine MDF

One of Wangaratta’s larg­est employers Alpine MDF Industries is set to be sold if given approval by the Austra­lian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Source: Timberbiz

The offer from NSW based Borg Manufacturing has been accepted by Alpine MDF and will be formalised if approved by the ACCC, which com­menced its review under the In­formal Merger Review Process Guidelines.

Alpine MDF chief executive officer Graham Church said it was too early to go into details about the proposed sale.

“Until such time as the sale is approved by the ACCC we’re really not in a position to make a statement,” he said. “The staff are fully informed and have all been offered em­ployment with the new business if it goes ahead.

“For now it’s just business as usual.”

Alpine MDF employs 100 staff and was originally set-up in 1996 as Dominance Industries Pty Ltd before being purchased by Japanese firm Sumitomo Forestry Company Ltd in 2002 and changing its name.

Borg Manufacturing has man­ufacturing sites and a warehouse and distribution facility in NSW and is a leading manufacturer of cabinet doors in Australia, with a world-class production facility located in Charmhaven.

According to the ACCC website the commission is seeking views from interested parties on the likely impact the proposed acquisition would have on prices of raw MDF (and value added MDF products);

• whether Borg and Alpine compete closely in relation to the manufacture and supply of raw MDF;
• whether raw MDF can be imported in competition with the products produced by Borg and Alpine; and
• whether, post-acquisition, Borg would have the ability and incentive to restrict supply of raw MDF to, or discriminate against, any secondary manufacturers of value added MDF products.

Raw MDF is needed to make value added MDF products, such as mouldings, doorskins, laminated MDF and veneers.
Value added MDF products are used to make furniture and kitchen and bathroom cabinets, to fit out shops and offices, and in other applications.

The ACCC understands that there are only three Australian-based production plants for raw MDF, owned by Borg, Alpine and Laminex.

Borg proposes to acquire Alpine’s Wangaratta MDF manufacturing assets, log yard, chipping and chip handling operations, heat plants, dry­ers, warehousing, mouldings line and doorskin line but not Alpine’s goodwill, intellectual property, sales and marketing assets are not being sold.

The ACCC invited com­ments from interested parties regarding the proposed acquisi­tion. June 30 is the provisional date for announcement of ACCC’s findings.