Prime Active Capital sells plastic units

Digital media and telecoms group Prime Active Capital (Pac) has sold off its plastic cards units to CPI Card Group for over €11 million after debt.

The deal, which is subject to shareholder approval, includes the two Pac subsidiaries involved in plastic card sector; the Plastic Card Company Ltd and PCC Services Ltd.

Dublin-based Pac said the total sale price was €13.9 million, less the debt in the companies and costs. This brought the net sale price to €11.3m, Pac said in a statement today.

The deal will be put before shareholders for approval on August 28th.

Peter Lynch, executive chairman with Pac said while PCC was enjoying a very good year, the company would face "considerable difficulty driving growth in this sub-sector in the next few years without broadening the product range to include credit cards and higher security items".

Given the level of investment and development required and that there would be no cash or investment return for shareholders from such development for a number of years, the company said it had decided to sell the units.

In June Pac reported a loss of €2.2 million for 2007 having incurred exceptional costs of €3.4 million due to a management restructuring and the issuing of warrants.

Mr Lynch is a former Eircom executive and was appointed executive chairman on May 15th, 2007.